Optical Emission Studies of Molybdenum Plasma Produced by an Nd:yag Laser

We study the optical emission characteristics of a molybdenum (Mo) plasma produced at the surface of a target material in air at atmospheric pressure using the fundamental (1,064 nm) wavelength of an Nd: YAG laser. We estimate the temperature using the Boltzmann plot method, whereas the number density is calculated using the Stark broadening profile of the neutral iron (Fe I) transition line at 538.34 nm. We investigate variations in the temperature and number density at different laser irradiance as well as the distance from the target surface along the axial direction of plasma propagation using the spectroscopic technique. We observe that the temperature and number density increase with increase in the laser irradiance.