Study of atomic and molecular emission spectra of Sr by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)

Abstract

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is an ideal analytical technique for in situ analysis of elemental composition. We have performed a comparative study of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of atomic and molecular emission from LIBS spectra. In our experiments, a mixture of SrCl2 and Al2O3 in powder form was used as a sample. The atomic emission from Sr and molecular emission from SrCl and SrO observed in LIBS spectra were analyzed. The optimum laser energies, gate delays, and gate widths for selected atomic lines and molecular bands were determined from spectra recorded at various experimental parameters. These optimum experimental conditions were used to collect calibration data, and the calibration curves were used to predict the Sr concentration. Limits of detection (LODs) for selected atomic and molecular emission spectra were determined.