Abstract

The experimental investigations of the ablation and atomization process of solid samples by pulsed laser radiation were performed with an arrangement shown in Fig. 1. A Nd:YAG laser of excellent mode profile and power stability working at its fundamental wavelength was used for ablation. Metallic samples of good homogeneities were placed in a vacuum-tight vessel which could be filled with buffer gas (Ar). In order to excited analytes selectively in the plasma plume produced by the Nd:YAG laser, the beam of a pulsed dye laser was sent into the microplasma with a preselected delay. Radiation from the plasma as well as the fluorescence transitions were detected with a sensitized, gatable optical multichannel analyser adapted to a medium-resolution spectrograph.

© 1990 Optical Society of America