Simulation of multi-pulse laser ablation for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy applications

Abstract

Using a two-temperature hydrodynamic model, we analyze the regimes of multi-pulse laser ablation of aluminum by focusing on long-term plasma plume parameters. It is demonstrated that the plasma luminosity in single-, double- and multi-pulse ablation regimes may vary by two orders of magnitude. We also show that the double-pulse ablation regime with 5 J/ $$\hbox {cm}^2$$ fluence of each pulse and 100-ps inter-pulse delay is the most effective case giving rise to 250 times increase of the plasma brightness with respect to a single-pulse ablation regime with the same incident energy.