Nanosecond Nd-YAG laser induced plasma emission characteristics in low pressure CO{sub 2} ambient gas for spectrochemical application on Mars

Journal Article · Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4929570· OSTI ID:22494787

Lie, Zener Sukra; Pardede, Marincan ^[1]; Tjia, May On ^[2]; Kagawa, Kiichiro ^[3]

---

1. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Pelita Harapan, 1100 M.H. Thamrin Boulevard, Lippo Village, Tangerang 15811 (Indonesia)
2. Research Center of Maju Makmur Mandiri Foundation, 40/80 Srengseng Raya, Jakarta 11630 (Indonesia)
3. Fukui Science Education Academy, Takagi Chuou 2 choume, Fukui 910-0804 (Japan)

An experimental study is conducted on the possibility and viability of performing spectrochemical analysis of carbon and other elements in trace amount in Mars, in particular, the clean detection of C, which is indispensible for tracking the sign of life in Mars. For this study, a nanosecond Nd-YAG laser is employed to generate plasma emission from a pure copper target in CO{sub 2} ambient gas of reduced pressure simulating the atmospheric condition of Mars. It is shown that the same shock wave excitation mechanism also works this case while exhibiting remarkably long cooling stage. The highest Cu emission intensities induced by 4 mJ laser ablation energy is attained in 600 Pa CO{sub 2} ambient gas. Meanwhile the considerably weaker carbon emission from the CO{sub 2} gas appears relatively featureless over the entire range of pressure variation, posing a serious problem for sensitive trace analysis of C contained in a solid sample. Our time resolved intensity measurement nevertheless reveals earlier appearance of C emission from the CO{sub 2} gas with a limited duration from 50 ns to 400 ns after the laser irradiation, well before the initial appearance of the long lasting C emission from the solid target at about 1 μs, due to the different C-releasing processes from their different host materials. The unwanted C emission from the ambient gas can thus be eliminated from the detected spectrum by a proper time gated detection window. The excellent spectra of carbon, aluminum, calcium, sodium, hydrogen, and oxygen obtained from an agate sample are presented to further demonstrate and verify merit of this special time gated LIBS using CO{sub 2} ambient gas and suggesting its viability for broad ranging in-situ applications in Mars.

• OSTI ID: 22494787
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ABLATION
ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY
ALUMINIUM
CALCIUM
CARBON
CARBON DIOXIDE
COPPER
DETECTION
EMISSION
HYDROGEN
MARS PLANET
NEODYMIUM LASERS
OXYGEN
PLASMA
PRESSURE RANGE PA
SHOCK WAVES
SODIUM
SPECTRA
TIME RESOLUTION
TRACE AMOUNTS