Optimization of cavity size for spatial confined laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Spatial confinement with a small cavity is known to enhance the signal intensity of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. In this study, the optical emission intensity and signal stability in terms of the relative standard deviation of laser-induced plasmas generated from brass samples with and without the presence of small cylindrical cavities were carefully investigated. The cylindrical cavities were prefabricated by drilling on a set of aluminum plates with variable diameters and heights, which were then placed near the sample surface. Both plasma emission intensity and stability were influenced by cavity diameter and height. With increased cavity diameter from 1.5 mm to 6 mm, the emission intensity of the confined plasma initially increased and then decreased. Furthermore, if a suitable cavity size was selected, both line intensity and stability of the confined plasma emission improved. Based on these observed signal characters with varying cavities, the optimized cavity size for the best signal quality of the laser-induced plasma emission on brass sample was obtained. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America