Optical emission enhancement in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy using micro-torches

A cost effective method for optical emission enhancement in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been proposed in this research. The pulsed Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 532 nm was used for sample ablation and plasma generation. A cost effective commercial butane micro-torch was put parallel to the sample surface to generate a small flame above the surface. The laser-induced plasma expanded in the flame environment. The time-resolved optical emission intensity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) have been observed with and without micro torch. For laser with pulse energy of 20 mJ, the relationship between optical emission intensity and delay time indicates that signal intensities have been greatly enhanced in the initial several microseconds when using micro torch. The time-resolved study of signal-to-noise ratio shows that the maximum SNR occurs at the delay time of 2 μs. The laser energy effects on the enhancements of optical emission intensity and SNR have also been analyzed, which indicates that the enhancement factors are both delay time and laser energy dependent. The maximum enhancement factors for both optical emission intensity and SNR gradually decreases with the laser energy increase. The limits of detection (LODs) for aluminum (Al) and molybdenum (Mo) in steel have been estimated, which shows that the detection sensitivity has been improved by around 4 times. The LODs of Al and Mo have been reduced from 18 to 6 ppm and from 110 to 36 ppm in LIBS, respectively. The method of LIBS by a micro torch has been demonstrated to be a cost effective method for detection sensitivity improvement, especially in the situation of low laser pulse energy.