Elemental Composition of the Soils using LIBS Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Elemental Composition of the Soils using LIBS Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique has been used for the elemental composition of the soils. In this technique, a high energy laser pulse is focused on a sample to produce plasma. From the spectroscopic analysis of such plasma plume, we have determined the different elements present in the soil. This technique is effective and rapid for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of all type of samples. In this work a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser operating with its fundamental mode (1064 nm laser wavelength), 5 nanosecond pulse width, and 10 Hz repetition rate was focused on soil samples using 10 cm quartz lens. The emission spectra of soil consist of Iron (Fe), Calcium (Ca), Titanium (Ti), Silicon (Si), Aluminum (Al), Magnesium (Mg), Manganese (Mn), Potassium (K), Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Mercury (Hg), Barium (Ba), Vanadium (V), Lead (Pb), Nitrogen (N), Scandium (Sc), Hydrogen (H), Strontium (Sr), and Lithium (Li) with different finger-prints of the transition lines. The maximum intensity of the transition lines was observed close to the surface of the sample and it was decreased along the axial direction of the plasma expansion due to the thermalization and the recombination process. We have also determined the plasma parameters such as electron temperature and the electron number density of the plasma using Boltzmann's plot method as well as the Stark broadening of the transition lines respectively. The electron temperature is estimated at 14611 °K, whereas the electron number density i.e. 4.1 × 10¹⁶ cm^-3 lies close to the surface.