Emission spectroscopy of laser ablation plume: Composition analysis of a target in water

Emission spectra of the laser ablation plume formed by the irradiation of Cu65/Zn35 binary alloy in water at the room temperature with 150-ns pulsed laser were measured. The spectra were analyzed by comparing with the theoretical calculation based on the assumption that self-absorption effect is negligible and that the same temperature can be applied to Cu atoms and Zn atoms in the plume. The calculation reproduced the spectra very well and gave reasonable temperature as a best-fit parameter. However, the best-fit value of the Cu atomic density relative to Zn is significantly low compared with the target composition. Care should be taken to perform in situ LIBS in liquid due to the complicated plume formation mechanism and dynamics of material intake into the plume.