Effect of sample temperature on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

The effect of initial sample temperature on spectral emission of laser-induced plasma has been investigated, The plasma has been produced on aluminum alloy surface at ambient air pressure. The sample has been uniformly heated by a heating element up to 150 degrees C The spectral emission of aluminum at different initial sample temperature and gate delay times has been measured. A simple model has been improved in order to compare the analytical and experimental results. An increase in sample temperature leads to an increase in the area under spectral line profiles. The results suggest that increasing the sample temperature can improve the limits of detection (LOD). (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.