RESUMEN
The performance and sensitivity of an intensified CCD array system and a nonintensified CCD array detector system are compared for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). LIBS measurements were recorded in a calcium-based aerosol-seeded gas stream at ambient pressure. The signal-to-noise ratio based on the 393.37-nm calcium emission line was calculated as a function of detector delay with respect to the plasma-initiating laser pulse. Both ensemble-averaging and single-shot spectral analyses were performed. For all conditions, the intensified CCD system provided an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio compared with the nonintensified CCD system.
RESUMEN
Schemes of conditional data processing are evaluated based on either the peak-to-base ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio as a metric for analyte detection in single-shot laser-induced breakdown spectra. The analyte signal investigated is the 288.1-nm Si I emission line provided by an aerosol stream of monodisperse 2.5-microm-sized silica microspheres. Both the Si emission line and a spectral region corresponding to continuum emission are used to evaluate the statistical distribution of spectral noise. The probability of false hits is determined by evaluating various conditional processing thresholds. As the detection threshold increases, the rate of detected silica particle hits decreases along with the expected fraction of false-particle hits (i.e., spectral noise). For all threshold values the signal-to-noise ratio is found to provide a more robust metric for single-shot analyte detection compared with the peak-to-base ratio.
RESUMEN
The laser-induced plasma vaporization of individual silica microspheres in an aerosolized air stream was investigated. The upper size limit for complete particle vaporization corresponds to a silica particle diameter of 2.1 microm for a laser pulse energy of 320 mJ, as determined by the deviation from a linear mass response of the silicon atomic emission signal. Comparison of the measured silica particle sampling rates and those predicted based on Poisson sampling statistics and the overall laser-induced plasma volume suggests that the primary mechanism of particle vaporization is related to direct plasma-particle interactions as opposed to a laser beam-particle interaction. Finally, temporal and spatial plasma evolution is discussed in concert with factors that may influence the vaporization dynamics of individual aerosol particles, such as thermophoretic forces and vapor expulsion.