title: Study of laser-induced breakdown emission from liquid under double-pulse excitation.
abstract: The application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to liquid samples, by use of a Nd:YAG laser in double-pulse excitation mode, is described. It is found that the line emission from a magnesium ion or atom is more than six times greater for double-pulse excitation than for single-pulse excitation. The effect of interpulse separation on the emission intensity of a magnesium ion and a neutral atom showed an optimum enhancement at a delay of 2.5-3 micros. The intensity of neutral atomic line emission dominates the ion emission from the plasma for higher interpulse (>10 micros) separation. A study of the temporal evolution of the line emission from the plasma shows that the background as well as line emission decays faster in double-pulse excitation than in single-pulse excitation. The enhancement in the emission seems to be dominated by an increase in the volume of the emitting gas. The limit of detection for a magnesium solution improved from 230 parts per billion (ppb) in single-pulse mode to 69 ppb in double-pulse mode.
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory, Mississippi State University, 205 Research Boulevard, Starkville, Mississippi 39759-7704, USA.
authors.forename: Virendra N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Rai
authors.forename: Fang-Yu
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Yueh
authors.forename: Jagdish P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Singh