Open AccessControlling the plasma electron number density of copper metal using NIR picosecond laser-induced plasma spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Mohamed Fikry,
Walid Tawfik,
Mahmoud Omar
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optica applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.204
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1899-7015
pISSN - 0078-5466
DOI - 10.37190/oa210305
Subject(s) - plasma , laser , materials science , atomic physics , picosecond , electron density , spectroscopy , electron , pulse duration , electron temperature , laser ablation , analytical chemistry (journal) , optics , chemistry , physics , chromatography , quantum mechanics
In this paper, we investigate a new method to control the plasma electron number density of copper metal using a near-infrared (NIR) picosecond Nd:YAG laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS) technique. The applied laser parameters are as follows; laser pulse energy and intensity varied from 29.2 to 59.4 mJ ± 3% and from 6.01×10 10 to 12.35×10 10 W/cm 2 ± 5%, respectively, for a single pulse at 170 ps pulse duration, and beam diameter about 0.5 ± 0.1 mm. By considering the Stark broadening of a specific spectral line, electron density can be calculated using a neutral copper line at 521.8 nm, assuming the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) condition. The observed electron density values were 1.09×10 16 , 2.24×10 16 , 3.60×10 16 , and 4.75×10 16 cm –3 for the laser pulse energies 29.2, 41, 52.4, and 59.4 mJ, respectively. The plasma electron density values are increased with the increase in laser pulse energy. Such findings were interpreted due to an increase in the mass ablation rates with laser pulse energy. The obtained results explore the ability to control the plasma electron density by controlling the picosecond pulse energy. These results can contribute to the development of plasma technologies and their applications in many fields.