Abstract

Use of dual-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy with an orthogonal spark orientation is presented as a technique for trace metal analysis in bulk aqueous solutions. Two separate Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers operating at their fundamental wavelengths are used to form a subsurface, laser-induced plasma in a bulk aqueous solution that is spectroscopically analyzed for the in situ detection of Ca, Cr, and Zn. Optimizing the key experimental parameters of proper spark alignment, gate delay (t _d), gate width (t _b), and interpulse timing (ΔT) allowed experimentally determined detection limits of the order of micrograms per milliliter and submicrograms per milliliter. We present supporting evidence of a sampling mechanism that involves the formation of a cavitation bubble with the first pulse (E ₁) followed by analysis of that bubble with a second pulse (E ₂). The plasma created by E ₂ contains the analytically relevant information from the aqueous sample and often represents >250-fold enhancement over a single laser pulse with energy equal to E ₁ alone.

© 2003 Optical Society of America

Double pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of bulk aqueous solutions at oceanic pressures: interrelationship of gate delay, pulse energies, interpulse delay, and pressure

Anna P. M. Michel and Alan D. Chave
Appl. Opt. 47(31) G131-G143 (2008)

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of bulk aqueous solutions at oceanic pressures: evaluation of key measurement parameters

Anna P. M. Michel, Marion Lawrence-Snyder, S. Michael Angel, and Alan D. Chave
Appl. Opt. 46(13) 2507-2515 (2007)

Single pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of bulk aqueous solutions at oceanic pressures: interrelationship of gate delay and pulse energy

Anna P. M. Michel and Alan D. Chave
Appl. Opt. 47(31) G122-G130 (2008)

Dual-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy with combinations of femtosecond and nanosecond laser pulses

Jon Scaffidi, Jack Pender, William Pearman, Scott R. Goode, Bill W. Colston, J. Chance Carter, and S. Michael Angel
Appl. Opt. 42(30) 6099-6106 (2003)

Matrix effect of sodium compounds on the determination of metal ions in aqueous solutions by underwater laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Christian Goueguel, Dustin L. McIntyre, Jinesh Jain, Athanasios K. Karamalidis, and Cantwell Carson
Appl. Opt. 54(19) 6071-6079 (2015)