Measuring the thickness of protective coatings on historic metal objects using nanosecond and femtosecond laser induced breakdown spectroscopy depth profiling

Depth profile analysis by means of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was investigated with respect to its potential to measure the thickness of different types of thin organic films used as protective coatings on historical and archaeological metal objects. For the materials examined, acrylic varnish and microcrystalline wax, the output from a nanosecond ArF excimer laser at 193 nm was found appropriate for performing a reliable profiling of the coating films leading to accurate determination of the coating thickness on the basis of the number of laser pulses required to penetrate the coating and on the ablation etch rate of the corresponding coating material under the same irradiation conditions. Nanosecond pulses at 248 nm proved inadequate to profile the coatings because of their weak absorption at the laser wavelength. In contrast, femtosecond irradiation at 248 nm yielded well-resolved profiles as a result of efficient ablation achieved through the increased non-linear absorption induced by the high power density of the ultrashort pulses.