Characterization of acoustic signals produced by ultraviolet laser ablation inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A simple device was designed to measure the acoustic signal accompanying la ser ablation. The potential use of this signal for laser ablation-inductive ly coupled plasma atomic emission was examined. A frequency quadrupled puls ed Nd:YAG laser radiation was used for the ablation of glass, steel and cer amic samples. The relation between the acoustic signal, the laser energy, t he analyte signal and the amount of ablated material was studied and eviden ce of the use of the acoustic signal for the exact focusing of the laser be am onto the sample surface was given. A more intense acoustic signal was ob served for the exact focusing with a formation of larger ablation craters i n glass and ceramics.