Self-Absorption Analysis of Silver Resonance Lines in Nano-Material Laser Produced Plasma

Abstract

The resonance spectra of neutral silver indicate self-absorption for the studied Ag I lines at the wavelengths of 327.9 nm and 338.2 nm. The center dip is associated with self-reversal due to self-absorption in the plasma. The Q-switched radiation of 355 nm, 532 nm, or 1064 nm from a Nd:YAG laser device generates the plasma at the surface of silver nano-material targets, with experiments conducted in standard ambient temperature and pressure laboratory air. Procedures for recovery of the spectral line shapes confirm that over and above the effects of selfreversal, line shape distortion are important in the analysis. The work discusses parameters describing selfabsorption when using fluence levels of 2 to 33 J/cm 2 to generate the plasma. Furthermore, subsidiary calibration efforts that utilize the hydrogen alpha line of the Balmer series show that the Ag I lines at 827.35 nm and 768.7 nm are optically thin.