Investigating plasma morphology at material boundaries under varying ambient pressures

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216305%3A26620%2F26%3A0198209" target="_blank" >RIV/00216305:26620/26:0198209 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039914025008677" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039914025008677</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2025.128377" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.talanta.2025.128377</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Investigating plasma morphology at material boundaries under varying ambient pressures

Original language description

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a widely used technique for elemental analysis. The analysis of the obtained LIBS spectra generally assumes plasma homogeneity. However, using focused laser beams for interrogation, LIBS probes materials on the microscale and is, thus, prone to artefacts from sample heterogeneities on the micrometre scale. An ablation at a material boundary of two matrices may result in a significant inhomogeneity in the plasma plume, which can severely impact the accuracy of quantitative analysis. Since this propagation of the surface morphology into the plasma plume is driven by the plasma expansion, its final impact is strongly pressure dependent. This study examines the influence of varying ambient pressures (7-1000 mbar) on plasma morphology, spectral characteristics, and key plasma properties such as electron number density at a well-defined Cu-Sn boundary, in comparison with the results obtained using homogeneous alloys. Several approaches of plasma imaging with bandpass filters, spectroscopy, and Radon transform-based 3D reconstruction were employed to analyse elemental distribution, signal-to-noise (SNR) and signal-to-background (SBR) ratios, as well as electron number densities. The 3D reconstructions revealed a pronounced plasma asymmetry for the ablation at the material boundary, in contrast to the near-axial symmetry observed for the ablation of homogeneous alloys. At lower pressures, this distinct elemental separation in plasma persisted, while higher pressures led to an increased collisional mixing and homogenization. SNR and SBR were consistently lower for ablation at the boundary compared to homogeneous samples. These findings highlight how boundary ablation contributes to plasma inhomogeneities in LIBS analysis of heterogeneous materials and emphasize the need to account for these effects when using LIBS for elemental mapping of fine heterogeneous structures.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10301 - Atomic, molecular and chemical physics (physics of atoms and molecules including collision, interaction with radiation, magnetic resonances, Mössbauer effect)

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

TALANTA

ISSN

0039-9140

e-ISSN

1873-3573

Volume of the periodical

295

Issue of the periodical within the volume

12

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

8

Pages from-to

1-8

UT code for WoS article

001502239500001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105006706684