Comparison of Acquired Signal Stability of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy in Combustion Environments using Temporal Laser Pulse Modulation

Yehwan An; Hyungrok Do

doi:10.15231/jksc.2026.31.3.001

All Issue

2026 Vol.31, Issue 3 Next Page

Research Article

Comparison of Acquired Signal Stability of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy in Combustion Environments using Temporal Laser Pulse Modulation 시간적 레이저 펄스 변조를 이용한 연소 환경에서의 레이저 유도 플라즈마 분광법의 취득 신호 안정성 비교

30 September 2026. pp. 1-12

PDF XML

Abstract

Temporal nanosecond laser pulse modulation based on inverse-Bremsstrahlung (IB) absorption was applied to laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in methane-air combustion environments. A variable pressure chamber (VPC) was used to generate plasma that absorbed the trailing edge of the laser pulse and reduced the pulse width. Argon, air, and nitrogen were tested as modulation gases, and argon showed the strongest modulation effect. Under the argon condition, the transmitted laser energy decreased from 180.6 mJ to 12.01 mJ, while the full width at half maximum (FWHM) decreased from 6.57 ns to 0.969 ns as the VPC pressure increased. LIBS signals obtained with modulated and non-modulated pulses were compared under matched incident laser energy conditions in methane-air flames at 1, 5, and 10 barA. At 10 barA and 35.19 mJ, the non-modulated pulse failed to generate valid optical breakdown, whereas the modulated pulse produced analyzable LIBS signals. These results demonstrate that temporal laser pulse modulation can improve LIBS signal acquisition under high-pressure and low-energy combustion conditions.

Keywords

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)

Inverse-Bremsstrahlung (IB) process

Optical shutter

Pulse modulation

High-pressure combustion

References

A.C. Eckbreth, Laser Diagnostics for Combustion Temperature and Species, 2nd ed., Gordon and Breach, Amsterdam, 1996.

10.1007/978-94-009-1620-3_18

J. Lee, C. Bong, J. Yoo, M.S. Bak, Combined use of tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for tempe- rature field reconstruction, J. Korean Soc. Combust. 25 (2020) 31-38.

10.15231/jksc.2020.25.3.031

A.W. Miziolek, V. Palleschi, I. Schechter (Eds.), Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: Funda- mentals and Applications, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006.

10.1017/CBO9780511541261

D.A. Cremers, L.J. Radziemski, Handbook of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, 2nd ed., Wiley, Chichester, 2013.

10.1002/9781118567371

D.W. Hahn, N. Omenetto, Laser-induced break- down spectroscopy (LIBS), Part I: Review of basic diagnostics and plasma-particle interactions: still- challenging issues within the analytical plasma community, Appl. Spectrosc. 64 (2010) 335A-366A.

10.1366/000370210793561691

D.W. Hahn, N. Omenetto, Laser-induced break- down spectroscopy (LIBS), Part II: Review of instrumental and methodological approaches to material analysis and applications to different fields, Appl. Spectrosc. 66 (2012) 347-419.

10.1366/11-06574

F.Y. Yueh, M.M. Tripathi, J.P. Singh, Combustion applications of laser-induced breakdown spectro- scopy, in: S. Musazzi, U. Perini (Eds.), Laser- Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: Theory and Applications, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2014, pp. 489-509.

10.1007/978-3-642-45085-3_18

F. Ferioli, S.G. Buckley, Measurements of hydrocarbons using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, Combust. Flame 144 (2006) 435-447.

10.1016/j.combustflame.2005.08.005

P. Stavropoulos, A. Michalakou, G. Skevis, S. Couris, Quantitative local equivalence ratio determination in laminar premixed methane-air flames by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Chem. Phys. Lett. 404 (2005) 309-314.

10.1016/j.cplett.2005.01.105

P. Stavropoulos, A. Michalakou, G. Skevis, S. Couris, Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy as an analytical tool for equivalence ratio measurement in methane-air premixed flames, Spectrochim. Acta Part B 60 (2005) 1092-1097.

10.1016/j.sab.2005.03.021

N. Kawahara, E. Tomita, S. Takemoto, Y. Ikeda, Fuel concentration measurement of premixed mixture using spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy, Spectrochim. Acta Part B 64 (2009) 1085-1092.

10.1016/j.sab.2009.07.016

M. Kotzagianni, E. Kakkava, S. Couris, Laser- induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the measurement of spatial structures and fuel distribution in flames, Appl. Spectrosc. 70 (2016) 627- 634.

10.1177/0003702816631296

P.S. Hsu, M. Gragston, Y. Wu, Z. Zhang, A.K. Patnaik, J. Kiefer, S. Roy, J.R. Gord, Sensitivity, stability, and precision of quantitative ns-LIBS- based fuel-air-ratio measurements for methane-air flames at 1-11 bar, Appl. Opt. 55 (2016) 8042-8048.

10.1364/AO.55.008042

Y. Wu, M. Gragston, Z. Zhang, P.S. Hsu, N. Jiang, A.K. Patnaik, S. Roy, J.R. Gord, High-pressure 1D fuel/air-ratio measurements with LIBS, Combust. Flame 198 (2018) 120-129.

10.1016/j.combustflame.2018.09.009

A.K. Patnaik, Y. Wu, P.S. Hsu, M. Gragston, Z. Zhang, J.R. Gord, S. Roy, Simultaneous LIBS signal and plasma density measurement for quantitative insight into signal instability at elevated pressure, Opt. Express 26 (2018) 25750-25760.

10.1364/OE.26.025750

A.P. Rao, M. Gragston, A.K. Patnaik, P.S. Hsu, M.B. Shattan, Measurement of electron density and temperature from laser-induced nitrogen plasma at elevated pressure (1-6 bar), Opt. Express 27 (2019) 33779-33788.

10.1364/OE.27.033779

M. Gragston, P.S. Hsu, N. Jiang, S. Roy, Z. Zhang, Emissions in short-gated ns/ps/fs-LIBS for fuel- to-air ratio measurements in methane-air flames, Appl. Opt. 60 (2021) C114-C120.

10.1364/AO.418453

S. Oh, S. Bae, C.D. Carter, H. Do, Laser-pulse width control using inverse-Bremsstrahlung photon absorption, Opt. Lett. 44 (2019) 3721-3724.

10.1364/OL.44.003721

Y. Park, K. Kim, S. Kim, C.D. Carter, H. Do, Nanosecond laser pulse modulation using seed electrons from cascade ionization induced by inverse-Bremsstrahlung photon absorption, Opt. Express 30 (2022) 6037-6050.

10.1364/OE.449587

S. Oh, C.D. Carter, Y. Park, S. Bae, H. Do, Non- intrusive laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in flammable mixtures via limiting inverse-Bremsstrahlung photon absorption, Combust. Flame 215 (2020) 259-268.

10.1016/j.combustflame.2020.01.037

C. Rubiella, T. Yoon, S. Kim, H. Do, Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy using modulated ns-laser pulses for multi-property measurements in high- pressure combustion environments, Combust. Flame 255 (2023) 112941.

10.1016/j.combustflame.2023.112941

R.G. Root, Modeling of post-breakdown phenomena, in: L.J. Radziemski, D.A. Cremers (Eds.), Laser-Induced Plasmas and Applications, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1989.

Y.P. Raizer, Laser-Induced Discharge Phenomena, Consultants Bureau, New York, 1977.

A. Kramida, Yu. Ralchenko, J. Reader, NIST ASD Team, NIST Atomic Spectra Database, ver. 5.12, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 2024.

C.V. Bindhu, S.S. Harilal, M.S. Tillack, F. Najmabadi, A.C. Gaeris, Energy absorption and propagation in laser-created sparks, Appl. Spectrosc. 58 (2004) 719-726.

10.1366/000370204872917

A. Sircar, R.K. Dwivedi, R.K. Thareja, Laser induced breakdown of Ar, N₂ and O₂ gases using 1.064, 0.532, 0.355 and 0.266 μm radiation, Appl. Phys. B 63 (1996) 623-627.

10.1007/BF01831003

Y. Song, Z. Hou, X. Yu, W. Yao, Z. Wang, Exploring the impact mechanism of ambient gas properties on laser-induced breakdown spectro- scopy to guide the raw signal improvement, Anal. Chim. Acta 1335 (2025) 343464.

10.1016/j.aca.2024.343464

K. Zhang, W. Song, Z. Hou, Z. Wang, Effect of ambient pressures on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy signals, Front. Phys. 19 (2024) 42203.

10.1007/s11467-023-1380-5

Information

Publisher :The Korean Society of Combustion
Publisher(Ko) :한국연소학회
Journal Title :Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
Journal Title(Ko) :한국연소학회지
Volume : 31
No :3
Pages :1-12
Received Date : 2026-07-06
Revised Date : 2026-07-06
Accepted Date : 2026-07-07
DOI :https://doi.org/10.15231/jksc.2026.31.3.001

Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion ISSN:1226-0959(Print) 2466-2089(Online) 한국연소학회지

All Issue