Spectroscopic diagnostics of laser induced plasma and self-absorption effects in Al lines

Self-absorption (SA) can drastically affect the emission signal which makes quantitative and, in extreme cases, qualitative investigations very challenging in laser induced plasma spectroscopy. In this study, plasma parameters are spectroscopically studied and SA in aluminum emission lines is investigated at various laser energies and gate delays. Q-switched Nd:YAG laser installed on LIBS2500 plus system (1064 nm, 6 ns, 10 Hz) was used for ablation. The sample was ablated in air with different laser energies between 5 and 650 mJ, and spectra were recorded at various gate delays between 0 and 23.75 mu s. Intensities of spectral lines Al I 308.2 and 309.3 nm were monitored for the range of laser energies and gate delays. The intensity of spectral lines was increased in response to the increasing laser energy. Rapid increase in intensities was observed for the first microsecond after plasma ignition. The maximum intensity of Al is observed at a gate delay of 1.25 mu s. Plasma conditions are investigated on the basis of electron density and temperature in response to the change in laser energy and gate-delay. The electron temperature increased from 15 413 K to 20 200 K and the electron density from 5.0 x 10(16) cm(-3) to 3.5 x 10(18) cm(-3) with increase in laser energy from 5 to 650 mJ. The electron temperature is exponentially decreased from 26 733 K to 16 649 K and the electron density is reduced from 2.0 x 10(17) cm(-3) to 1.0 x 10(16) cm(-3) for increase in the gate delay from 0 to 23.75 mu s. The self-absorption effect in resonant spectral lines of Al is estimated on the basis of SA coefficient calculated using FWHM of spectral lines. The highest values of SA coefficient are found for the lowest laser energies and longest gate delays. It states that the SA is significant when the plasma temperature is low and also, when plasma is least dense. It is fairly obvious to conclude that SA effects are least prevalent when the plasma plume is induced by high laser energies and measurements are made at short gate delays. Published by AIP Publishing.