Measurement of electron density utilizing the Hα-line from laser produced plasma in air

The electron density in a laser produced plasma experiment was measured utilizing the Stark broadening of the H-alpha-line at 656.27 nm. This line results from the interaction of the Nd:YAG laser at the fundamental wavelength of 1.06 mu m with a plane solid aluminum target in a humid air. The measurements were repeated at several delay times (0-10 mu s) and at a fixed gate time of 1 mu s. The electron density from the optically thin Al II-line at 281.62 nm was measured in parallel from the same spectra. The electron density was found in the range from 10(18) cm(-3) down to 6 x 10(16) cm(-3) at longer delay time. The electron density from the H-alpha-line using the Griem's standard theory was compared with the predictions of other model due to Gigosos et al. The agreement between the measured electron density from both the H-alpha-line and the Al II-line would confirm the reliability of utilizing the H-alpha-line as an electron density standard reference line in LIBS experiments. Several important features characterize the H-alpha-line: it is a well isolated line, it gives large signal to background ratio, it lasts a long time after the termination of the laser (up to 10 mu s), its Stark width is relatively large and does not exhibit self-absorption. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.