Exploring laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for nuclear materials analysis and in-situ applications

Martin, Madhavi Z.; Allman, S. L.; Brice, Deanne J.; Martin, R.C.; André, Nicolás

doi:10.1016/j.sab.2012.06.049

Cited by 77 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Even though these surrogate materials are not of the exact composition as the SNMs of interest, they are similar enough to provide information into the potential behavior of SNMs under the same ablation and detection conditions. Investigations into the feasibility of OES for U detection have used both SNMs and surrogate materials, [6][7][8] including uranium oxide powders and pelletized versions of said powders. 9 Experiments have primarily used spatially integrated optical emission collection methods, e.g., with a fiber optic cable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of uranium emission in laser-produced plasmas

LaHaye¹,

Harilal²,

Diwakar³

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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Detection of uranium and other nuclear materials is of the utmost importance for nuclear safeguards and security. Optical emission spectroscopy of laser-ablated U plasmas has been presented as a stand-off, portable analytical method that can yield accurate qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of a variety of samples. In this study, optimal laser ablation and ambient conditions are explored, as well as the spatio-temporal evolution of the plasma for spectral analysis of excited U species in a glass matrix. Various Ar pressures were explored to investigate the role that plasma collisional effects and confinement have on spectral line emission enhancement and persistence. The plasma-ambient gas interaction was also investigated using spatially resolved spectra and optical time-of-flight measurements. The results indicate that ambient conditions play a very important role in spectral emission intensity as well as the persistence of excited neutral U emission lines, influencing the appropriate spectral acquisition conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of uranium emission in laser-produced plasmas

LaHaye¹,

Harilal²,

Diwakar³

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…Phys. 11 (6), 115205 (2016) cave grating are 2400 lines/mm, and the resolution of the spectrometer is better than 0.01 nm. The light signal was detected by a photomultiplier tube (PMT), which was installed on the experimental setup, including C, P, and S channels with the resonance line located in the VUV region.…”

Section: -2mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…LIBS is widely used in metallurgical [1][2][3], geological [4,5], nuclear [6,7], and biological industries [8,9]. The LIBS technique has been extensively reviewed in many aspects, including its fundamentals, instrumentation, and applications [10][11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of the globular oxide inclusion ratings in steel using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Zhang¹,

Jia

Yang

et al. 2016

Front. Phys.

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Grade assessment of steel is generally performed via the metallographic method, which is timeconsuming and is not able to provide the elemental distribution information. In this paper, we present a method to measure the globular oxide inclusion ratings in steel using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The measurement is performed in two basic steps: steel samples are polished using metallographic sand paper and the Al 2 O 3 inclusion number and size distribution in a marked area are observed using scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) for further LIBS scanning analysis. The threshold intensity that distinguishes soluble aluminum and insoluble aluminum inclusions is determined using LIBS combined with the SEM/EDS statistical data. Carbon steel (the sample number is S9256) and bearing steel (the sample number is GCr15) are analyzed in scanning mode, and the number of Al 2 O 3 inclusions in different size ranges is obtained from the statistical information derived from the Al 2 O 3 size calibration curve. According to heavy and thin series for globular oxide inclusions grade assessment, the method we propose is comparable to the traditional metallographic method in terms of accuracy; however, the process is simplified and the measurement speed is significantly improved.

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“…LA-Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (LA-LAS) is an extremely sensitive method capable of probing elemental as well as isotopic ground and excited state populations [4,5]. LA -Optical Emission Spectroscopy (LA-OES), commonly called Laser Induced Plasma Spectroscopy (LIPS) or Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), provides another dimension to LA-hyphenated techniques in nuclear forensics where light emission from the plasma plume is analyzed [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal evolution of uranium emission in laser-produced plasmas

Harilal

Diwakar

LaHaye

et al. 2015

Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy

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Laser-induced plasma spectroscopy provides much impetus as a nuclear forensics tool because of its capability of standoff detection and real-time analysis. However, special nuclear materials like U, Pu etc.provide very crowded spectra, and when combined with shifts and broadening of spectral lines caused by ambient atmospheric operation, generate a complex plasma spectroscopy system. We explored the spatiotemporal evolution of excited U species in a laser ablation plume under various ambient pressure conditions. Plasmas were generated using 1064 nm, 6 ns pulses from a Nd:YAG laser on a U containing glass matrix target. The role of air ambient pressure on U line intensities, signal to background ratios and linewidths were investigated. Spatially and temporally resolved optical time-of-flight emission spectroscopy of excited uranium atoms were used for studying the expansion hydrodynamics and the persistence of U species in the plume. Our results showed that U emission linewidths increased with pressure due to increased Stark broadening; however, the broadening was less than for Ca. A comparison with U emission features in the presence of an inert gas showed the persistence of U species in plasmas in ambient air is significantly reduced; this could be due to oxide and other reactive species formation.

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Exploring laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for nuclear materials analysis and in-situ applications

Cited by 77 publications

References 35 publications

Persistence of uranium emission in laser-produced plasmas

Persistence of uranium emission in laser-produced plasmas

Characterization of the globular oxide inclusion ratings in steel using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Spatio-temporal evolution of uranium emission in laser-produced plasmas

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