The role of microwaves in the enhancement of laser-induced plasma emission

We studied experimentally the effect of microwaves (MWs) on the enhancement of plasma emission achieved by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). A laser plasma was generated on a calcium oxide pellet by a Nd: YAG laser (5 mJ, 532 nm, 8 ns) in reduced-pressure argon surrounding gas. A MW radiation (400 W) was injected into the laser plasma via a loop antenna placed immediately above the laser plasma to enhance the plasma emission. The results confirmed that when the electromagnetic field was introduced into the laser plasma region by the MWs, the lifetime of the plasma was extended from 50 to 500 mu s, similar to the MW duration. Furthermore, the plasma temperature and electron density increased to approximately 10900 K and 1.5 x 1(01)8 cm(-3), respectively and the size of the plasma emission was extended to 15 mm in diameter. As a result, the emission intensity of Ca lines obtained using LIBS with MWs was enhanced by approximately 200 times compared to the case of LIBS without MWs.