Characterization of multilayer coatings of aluminium, tungsten and molybdenum on steel substrate using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Application of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Depth Profiling of Multilayer and Graded Materials

“…The typical depth resolution for LIBS depth profiling falls between 100 and 500 nm [46], although craters reaching several tens of micrometer depths [21,50,51] or even thousands of micrometer have also been documented [52]. The ablation rate is influenced by the type of material that is being ablated and the laser fluence (as shown in Figure 6a,b [41,53]), as well as by the sample temperature [21]. For consistent material and ablation conditions, the depth increases proportionally with fluence [53] and the number of laser pulses (see Figure 6b,c) [41,44].…”

“…The ablation rate is influenced by the type of material that is being ablated and the laser fluence (as shown in Figure 6a,b [41,53]), as well as by the sample temperature [21]. For consistent material and ablation conditions, the depth increases proportionally with fluence [53] and the number of laser pulses (see Figure 6b,c) [41,44]. If the material removal rate remains consistent at a given fluence, one can correlate the depth with the number of laser pulses (as depicted in Figure 6b) [41], but for deep ablation the linear range of crater depth vs. number of pulses dependance is limited as shown for aluminum [44] and superalloy samples (Figure 6c) [52].…”

“…Table 1 provides an overview of the multicomponent samples analyzed using LIBS. These samples span a wide range of materials tailored for extreme environments, such as those found in nuclear reactors [53,[67][68][69][70][71] or materials that come into contact with plasma [54], molten salts [37,40], and solutions that arise during the purification of fissile materials [72]. They also include materials that withstand severe thermal and mechanical loads [31,73,74].…”