Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of steel samples using multiple Q-switch Nd:YAG laser pulses

TLDR

Single, double and multiple Q‑switch Nd:YAG laser pulses are used to vaporize material from solid steel samples, enabling measurement of ablation, iron line emission, electron temperature and density, and quantitative microchemical analysis of low‑alloy steel. Multiple pulses increase material ablation, electron temperature and density, and double pulses roughly double line intensities, improving analytical performance.

Abstract

Single, double and multiple Q-switch Nd:YAG laser pulses are used to vaporize material from solid steel samples and to induce a plasma. The material ablation of different pulse bursts, emission intensities of iron lines and electron temperatures and densities are determined. Material ablation is found to increase with multiple pulses compared to single pulses of fixed total energy as well as electron temperatures and densities. Line intensities can be increased by a factor of about two using double pulses. Quantitative microchemical analysis of low-alloy steel is performed with single and double pulses. The analytical performance is improved by the double-pulse technique.