Kautz E J, Devaraj A, Senor D J, Harilal S S
Opt Express. 2021 Feb 15;29(4):4936-4946. doi: 10.1364/OE.412351.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is a promising method for rapidly measuring hydrogen and its isotopes, critical to a wide range of disciplines (e.g. nuclear energy, hydrogen storage). However, line broadening can hinder the ability to detect finely spaced isotopic shifts. Here, the effects of varying plasma generation conditions (nanosecond versus femtosecond laser ablation) and ambient environments (argon versus helium gas) on spectral features generated from Zircaloy-4 targets with varying hydrogen isotopic compositions were studied. Time-resolved 2D spectral imaging was employed to detail the spatial distribution of species throughout plasma evolution. Results highlight that hydrogen and deuterium isotopic shifts can be measured with minimal spectral broadening in a ∼ 10 Torr helium gas environment using ultrafast laser-produced plasmas.
激光诱导击穿光谱法是一种很有前景的方法，可用于快速测量氢及其同位素，这对广泛的学科领域（如核能、氢存储）至关重要。然而，谱线展宽会阻碍检测精细间隔的同位素位移的能力。在此，研究了不同等离子体产生条件（纳秒与飞秒激光烧蚀）和环境（氩气与氦气）对具有不同氢同位素组成的锆合金-4靶产生的光谱特征的影响。采用时间分辨二维光谱成像来详细描述等离子体演化过程中各物种的空间分布。结果表明，在约10托的氦气环境中，使用超快激光产生的等离子体，可以在谱线展宽最小的情况下测量氢和氘的同位素位移。
