Analysis of sodium aerosol using transversely excited atmospheric CO2 laser-induced gas plasma spectroscopy

• In-situ monitoring of leaked sodium in fast reactor is strongly required.
• We developed laser-induced gas plasma spectroscopy (LIGPS) by using TEA CO2 laser.
• High-sensitive detection of sodium by LIGPS could be achieved.
• The detection limit of sodium was approximately 200 ppb.
• This new analytical method has never been able to apply for ordinary LIBS.

Taking advantages of the special characteristics of a transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) CO2 laser, the analysis of sodium aerosol has been successfully conducted by using laser-induced gas plasma spectroscopy (LIGPS) method. In this study, the sodium aerosol was deposited on a nickel metal plate; the metal plate functions as a subtarget to initiate a gas plasma. When a pulsed TEA CO2 laser was focused on the metal surface, a large-volume and high-temperature gas plasma was induced. The fine particles of sodium then entered into the gas plasma region to be dissociated and excited. By using this technique, a semi quantitative analysis of sodium aerosol was made. The detection limit of sodium was approximately 200 ppb.