Effect of LFTSD on underwater laser induced breakdown spectroscopy with different laser energies

With the hope of applying LIBS to solid target detection in deep-sea, the influences of laser focus to sample distance (LFTSD) on the plasma characteristics were investigated using spectra-image approach with the laser energies at sub- and super- threshold irradiance of solution. The experimental results show that LFTSD is a critical parameter which can directly influence the plasma shapes, by changing the laser fluence on sample surface. The plasma is divided into two parts under pre-focus condition, while the plasma only forms at the surface of Cu target under de-focus condition. Moreover, the “seed electron” generated from Cu sample can reduce the breakdown threshold of the solution. By comparing the laser energy, it seems to be inefficient by using super-threshold energy due to the plasma shielding effect of the liquid. High quality spectra can be observed by using lower laser energy and longer gate delay (25 mJ and 1000 ns, in this work).