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.