Open AccessCharacterization of near-infrared low energy ultra-short laser pulses for portable applications of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Alexander Schill,
David A. Heaps,
Dimitra N. StratisCullum,
Bradley Arnold,
Paul M. Pellegrino
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.15.014044
Subject(s) - laser induced breakdown spectroscopy , laser , materials science , optics , spectroscopy , wavelength , spectrometer , emission spectrum , optoelectronics , spectral line , physics , quantum mechanics , astronomy
We report on the delivery of low energy ultra-short (<1 ps) laser pulses for laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Ultra-short pulses have the advantage of high peak irradiance even at very low pulse energies. This opens the possibility to use compact, rare-earth doped fiber lasers in a portable platform for point detection applications using LIBS for elemental analysis. The use of low energy ultra-short pulses minimizes the generation of a broad continuum background in the emission spectrum, which permits the use of non-gated detection schemes using very simple and compact spectrometers. The pulse energies used to produce high-quality LIBS spectra in this investigation are some of the lowest reported and we investigate the threshold pulse requirements for a number of near IR pulse wavelengths (785-1500 nm) and observe that the pulse wavelength has no effects on the threshold for observation of plasma emission or the quality of the emission spectra obtained.