Measurement of Stark broadening parameters of Fe II and Ni II spectral lines by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy using fused glass samples

The Stark widths of 36 Fe II and 27 Ni II spectral lines are measured by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The use of fused glass samples prepared by borate fusion is evaluated for Stark broadening measurements in LIBS experiments. The spectra of laser-induced plasmas generated from fused glass samples containing oxides show improved line-to-background ratios compared to those measured with alloys. The diagnostics of the fused glass laser induced plasmas shows that their characteristic parameters are not very different from those of alloy plasmas. The electron density in the experiment is in the range (0.8-10) x 10(17) cm(-3) and the temperature varies from 12000 K to 17600 K. These experimental Stark width data, most of which had not been measured previously, complete the data for Fe II and Ni II reported in earlier works, determined by LIBS using alloy samples. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.