Improved Sensitivity with Chloride Ions on Nanoparticle Enhanced Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

In this study, the addition of chloride ions to silver colloid was proposed as an effective approach to enhance laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) signal. We studied the emission intensity of LIBS as a function of the concentration of chloride ions with an example of Mg I lines at the wavelengths of 383.23 and 383.83 nm. The experimental results showed that the limit of detection with this method was significantly improved, 30.6 ppb for Mg, compared with the order of ppm in the traditional LIBS method. This technique provides an effective method to improve sensitivity of LIBS.