Spectroscopy of Laser Plumes for Atto‐Mole and ng/g Elemental Analysis

Abstract

Two all‐optical analytical techniques are reviewed. Both are capable of highly sensitive multi‐element analysis. One is by means of resonance‐enhanced plasma spectroscopy. It minimizes the continuum background associated with laser‐induced plasmas. Relative to laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy, the signal‐to‐noise ratio is improved by orders of magnitude, thus allowing the quantitation of sodium and potassium at the single blood cell level. The other technique utilizes laser‐excited atomic fluorescence. It has been traditionally handicapped by its one wavelength–one transition specificity. We showed, however, that numerous elements could be induced to fluoresce at a single excitation wavelength of 193 nm provided that the analytes were imbedded in dense plumes, such as those produced by pulsed laser ablation. This method eliminates the continuum plasma background and sub‐ppb sensitivity was demonstrated in the analysis of aqueous lead colloids.     

Deuterium Clusters Fusion Induced by the Intense Femtosecond Laser Pulse

Neutrons （2.45MeV） from deuterium cluster fusion induced by the intense femtosecond （3Ors） laser pulse are experimentally demonstrated. The average neutron yield 103 per shot is obtained. It is found that the yield slightly increases with the increasing laser spot size. No neutron can be observed when the laser intensity I 〈 4.3 × 10^15 W/cm^2.     

Excitation Mechanisms of Copper Ionic and Atomic Lines Emitted from a Low‐Pressure Argon Laser‐Induced Plasma

Abstract

Low‐pressure laser‐induced plasmas generated with a pulsed Nd∶YAG laser have complicated structures both temporally and spatially. The emission characteristics of the plasma are investigated for optimizing the experimental parameters in atomic emission spectrometry. The emission intensities of copper emission lines, measured in a time‐resolved as well as a time‐integrated mode, are strongly dependent on the kind of copper lines, ionic or atomic line, and the excitation energy. Also, the pressure of argon gas is the most important parameter for determining the behavior of these emission lines, including argon lines. Generally, copper ionic lines are dominantly emitted from the initial breakdown zone, because the copper ions are produced mainly in the hot breakdown zone. However, the Cu II 229.44‐nm line is emitted also from the expansion zone of the plasma. It results from an additional excitation process through the charge‐transfer collision particularly effective for the corresponding excited level. In this work, the excitation mechanisms for Cu I, Ar I, and Ar II lines are also discussed. The excitations occurring in the laser‐induced plasma can be well understood by taking the temporal and spatial variations in their intensities into consideration.     

Nuclear Fusion Induced by Coulomb-Hydrodynamic Explosion of Deuterium Clusters in Intense Laser Pulses

Considering the Coulomb-hydrodynamic explosion induced by the interaction of a deuterium cluster target with an ultra-intensity femtosecond laser, we analyse the mechanism of generating energetic deuterium nuclei for the fusion. We propose formulae for expansions of deuterium ion duster which are driven by Coulomb-hydrodynamic explosion. Hence the kinetic energies of deuterium nuclei, the expansion time and exploding efficiency of deuterium ion cluster have been estimated.     

Relaxation of Dense Electron Plasma Induced by Femtosecond Laser in Dielectric Materials

Electron plasma induced by a focused femtosecond pulse （130 fs, 800 nm） in dielectric materials （Soda Lime glass, K9 glass, and SiO2 crystal） is investigated by pump-probe shadow imaging technology. The relaxation of the electron plasma in the conduction band is discussed. In SiO2 crystals, a fast self-trapping process with a trapping time of 150fs is observed, which is similar to that in fused silica. However, in Soda Lime glass and K9 glass, no self-trapping occurs, and two decay processes are found： one is the energy relaxation process of conduction electrons within several picoseconds, another is an electron-hole recombination process with a timescale of lOOps. The electron collision time T in the conduction band is also measured to be in the order of 1 fs in all of these materials.     

Fourier‐Transform Near‐Infrared Spectroscopy as a Tool for Olive Fruit Classification and Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

The potential of diffuse reflectance near‐infrared spectroscopy combined with pattern recognition to discriminate between olives (Olea europaea L.) of different qualities has been tested. The sample set was formed of sound olive fruits and those showing the most common alterations of olives, which lead to decreased oil quality, namely freeze damages, harvest after falling on the ground, fermentation due to prolonged storage time, and olive tree diseases. Near‐infrared (NIR) spectra were recorded between 9900 and 4100 cm^?1. Preliminary studies of the data set structure were performed using hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Discriminant analysis provided prediction abilities of 100% for sound, 79% for frostbite, 96% for ground, and 92% for fermented olives using a leave‐a‐fourth‐out cross‐validation procedure. Quantification of oil and water content in the olives was also approached by using partial least squares (PLS) regression. Results, in terms of predictive ability using a leave‐one‐out cross‐validation, were compared for calibration using the whole sample set and calibrations for the sound and damaged samples separately. Relative errors of prediction using all samples were 7.2% and 3.4% for oil content and humidity, respectively. Using only sound samples, relative errors of prediction of 3.8% and 2.8% for oil and water content, respectively, were obtained. Thus, better accuracy could be achieved when classification of the olive samples prior to quantitative analysis was performed. These results demonstrate the utility of NIR spectroscopy to differentiate olives of different qualities. Using NIR, a fast selection of sound olives in a quality‐orientated production facility becomes feasible.     

Acoustic Diagnostics of Plasma Channels Induced by Intense Femtosecond Laser Pulses in Air

Long plasma channels induced by femtosecond laser pulses in air are diagnosed using the sonographic method. By detecting the sound signals along the channels, the length and the electron density of the channels are measured. Refocusing is also observed at different laser energies and different focal lengths. We find that the sonographic method has manifest advantages compared to other techniques.     

High‐Resolution Submillimeter Wave Spectroscopy of Hydrogen Sulphide with Heterodyne Spectrometer

A submillimeter heterodyne spectrometer using continuous wave optically pumped molecular laser as local oscillator and Schottky diode as mixer was developed at Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad (India) for quantitative spectroscopy of polyatomic molecules in laboratory. The experimental details of spectrometer and its application to study of molecular line parameters are presented. In particular line strength, collision line width (self and foreign) of H₂S 5_5,05_4,1 transition¹(579.799 GHz) have been measured. Air molecules have been used as foreign (perturbing) molecules taking Earths atmosphere into consideration².     

Measurement of the Stark Broadening of Atomic Emission Lines in Non–Optically Thin Plasmas by Laser‐Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

We propose a new method for determining the Stark broadening of atomic emission lines using laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy. The method allows the determination of the Stark broadening in non–optically thin plasmas, through the introduction of a correction for self‐absorption. Couples of lines of the same species are considered. If one of the Stark broadenings is known, the determination of the other does not require the measurement of the electron density of the plasma. Examples are given for the application of the proposed method to the measurement of the Stark broadening of several aluminum emission lines (Al I at 308.2 nm, Al I at 394.4 nm, and Al I at 396.2 nm).     

Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy Detection of N2O at 2.1μm Using Antimonide Laser and InGaAs Photodiode

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy detection of N2 0 around 2.1 μm is demonstrated by using a homemade InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb MQW laser diode and an InGaAs wavelength extended photodiode. Details of the devices and the detection system are described. In the system, the laser is driven by low frequency pulses with long duration to form a wavelength scan around 4741 cm^-1; the absorption information is obtained from the detected signal of the photodiode. By using a gas cell with 15cm path length, a detection limit is estimated to be smaller than 0.2 Torr.     

Hydrogen and Neutron Irradiation Induced Hardening in Vanadium Alloys

It is well known that vanadium alloy will face to strong neutron irradiation and hydrogen environments as a structural material in a fusion reactor. Some researches have reported that vanadium alloy took strongly hardening after an exposure to hydrogen environment and irradiation by neutron at a temperature lower than 400℃. The ductility of the alloy was lost largely, even entirely brittle fracture occurred sometimes in tension loading of the alloy. Therefore, it‘s to get the knowledge of the hardening mechanism and the fracture mechanical for the purpose to improve the performances of the alloy under the circumstances.     

Straightness Measurement Using Laser Diode and CCD Camera

１ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＩｎｍａｎｕｆａｃｔｕｒｅａｎｄａｓｅｍｂｌｅｏｆｍｏｄｅｒｎｍａｃｈｉｎｅｓａｎｄｉｎｓｔｒｕｍｅｎｔｓ，ａｎｉｎｄｉｓｐｅｎｓａｂｌｅｒｅｑｕｉｒｅｍｅｎｔｉｓｔｈｅｃｏｎｔｒｏｌｏｆｆｏｒｍａｎｄｐｏｓｉｔｉｏｎｅｒｏ...     

Recent Advances in Microwave Induced Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry with Okamoto‐Cavity

Abstract

Microwave induced plasmas with an Okamoto‐cavity (Okamoto‐cavity MIP) are noted as a new excitation source in atomic emission spectrometry. The Okamoto‐cavity MIP can be sustained with various plasma gases, and can produce each stable plasma with a high robustness against loading of various types of samples. For example, the oxygen‐containing MIP becomes an effective atomization and excitation source for direct injection of organic solvents analysis because they are completely burned in the plasma. In this review, the fundamental structure of the microwave cavity, the spectrochemical characteristics, and the analytical applications are summarized from reference papers.     

Photodegradation Studies by Laser‐Induced Fluorescence of the Reaction Product of 1,2‐Indanedione And Glycine

Photodegradation of the reaction product of 1,2‐indanedione with glycine in methanol at room temperature has been studied using laser-induced fluorescence. Samples were liquid solution and developed fingerprints on papers. Continuous laser excitation of fresh solution of 1,2‐indanedione–glycine dissolved in methanol shows that the emission peak at 564 nm reached a quite stable low level after almost 1 hr of continuous excitation. For latent fingerprints on papers developed with 1,2‐indanedione dissolved in methanol solution, the luminescence peak decreases for the first week and reached a stable level for almost 2 weeks. A long‐term study is needed to reach a conclusion on the stability of the samples (liquid and developed fingerprints) at room temperature conditions.     

Analysis of X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Polymethyl Methacrylate Etched by a KrF Excimer Laser

The C ls and 0 ls electrons in polymethyl methacrylate etched by different incident laser intensities are analysed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that when the incident laser fluence increases gradually,the percentage of carbon atoms in C-C bonds decreases while the one in carbonyl group (C=O) and alkoxy group (C-O) increases, and the percentage of oxygen atoms in C=O bonds increases while the one in C-O bonds decreases. Based on the analysis of the chemical structure, the energy level transition, energy diversion, and dissociation of bonds are theoretically examined, which is consistent with the experimental results.     

An Experimental Analysis of Residual Stress Measurements in Porous Silicon Using Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

Micro-Raman spectroscopy of porous silicon films of micrometre thickness and on silicon bulk substrates is carried out.The practical information is given for applications of stress measurements in the films which were obtained with electrochemical etching technique.Higher residual stress (reached GPa) in the etched area falls continuously through the transitional area to the un-etched area of the sample.However,the stress gradient is smaller in the etched or un-etched area and increases in the transitional area between the two areas.Using atomic force microscopy to investigate the surface appearance of porous silicon films,the micro-cavity structure is expected to relate to the distribution of residual stress.     

Trace Analysis of Al on Silicon Surfaces by Ultra‐soft X‐Ray Emission Spectroscopy

It is shown that near normal incidence, low‐energy electron excitation of Al on silicon surfaces by ultra‐soft X‐Ray emission spectroscopy yielded limits of detectibility (LD) in the picogram region. This result on L band emission via electron excitation is fully competitive with photon excitation using K‐α lines via grazing incidence total reflection techniques (TXRF). Surprisingly, it was also found that normal incidence synchrotron photon excitation on the same sample yielded much higher values of LD than low‐energy electron excitation, undoubtedly due to the use of a poor transmission grating used in the entrance optics.