| Popis: |
We have used a simultaneous 10.6 micron CO 2 laser pulse to enhance the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) emission from a 1.064 micron Nd:YAG laser induced plasma on a hard target. The enhancement factor was found to be one or two orders of magnitude, depending upon the emission lines observed and the target composition. The output energy of the 5 ns Nd:YAG laser pulse was about 50 mJ and was focused to a 1 mm diameter spot to produce breakdown. The CO 2 laser pulse (100 ns spike, 5 microsec tail) had a similar energy density on target (0.06 J/mm 2 ). Timing overlap of the two laser pulses within 1 microsecond was important for enhancement to be observed. Enhancement of neutral atomic emission was usually on the order of 5-20X, while enhancement of ionized species tended to be higher, 10-200X. We attribute the increase in both the atmospheric components and the +1 and +2 ionic emission to heating of the Nd:YAG plasma by the coincident CO 2 laser. Such inverse bremsstrahlung absorption of CO 2 laser radiation by the free electrons of plasma is well known. We are conducting additional studies to better quantify the effects of laser beam mode, pulse-to-pulse jitter, temporal pulse shaping, and optimization of these parameters for different LIBS target compositions. |
