Laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS) is a powerful tool for the multi-element analysis of a huge variety of solid, liquid, and gaseous samples of industrial relevance. For LIPS an intense, pulsed laser beam (typically a Nd:YAG or excimer laser) is focused on the sample of interest, resulting in an evaporation, atomization, and partial ionization of the sample in an expanding plasma cloud. After a delay of some hundred nanoseconds to discriminate against the recombination background, the elemental composition of the sample can be determined via the spectrally and temporally resolved detection of the characteristic atomic and ionic emissions. Due to the minimum sample preparation, the low cost for a single measurement, and the potential for an extensive automation, LIPS is an attractive approach to process analysis. The objective of this work to extend the range of elements, which can be analyzed by LIBS, via observation of atomic emission in the VUV range. This permits not only a multielement analysis of metals, but also access to emission lines of metalloids such as S, P, N,O, C, and As. Two experimental set-ups for VUV-LIBS are presented: A set-up for bulk analysis based on conventional Czerny-Turner monochromator and a new echelle spectrograph for high spectral resolution (> 10 000) in the spectral range 150-300 nm. Applying an appropriate beam shaping (micro focusing), LIPS allows a fast spatially resolved elemental characterization of surfaces with a typical resolution of 10 mm. Using a UV laser beam (l = 266 nm) for plasma ignition, fractionization effects can be minimized and a quantitative analysis can be performed. Analysis of the spectra from the single pulses permit a depth- and spatially resolved investigation of a sample.
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Laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS) is a powerful tool for the multi-element analysis of a huge variety of solid, liquid, and gaseous samples of industrial relevance. For LIPS an intense, pulsed laser beam (typically a Nd:YAG or excimer laser) is focused on the sample of interest, resulting in an evaporation, atomization, and partial ionization of the sample in an expanding plasma cloud. After a delay of some hundred nanoseconds to discriminate against the recombination background, the elem...
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