Accuracy enhancement of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy by safely low-power discharge

Improvement in detection accuracy is an important and hot topic for laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Discharged-pulse assisted (DPA) plasma has been investigated as an effective way to enhance analytical capabilities and accuracy of LIBS. Most of reported DPA experiments have been performed using high voltage and power to comprehend spectrum enhancement. For safety concerns and maneuverability of LIBS equipment; low power and small current discharge are viable for industrial application. In this paper, the enhanced spectra with many extra peaks and higher line intensities were also detected, realized by a low-power discharge assisted LIBS (Max. 2.8 kV and ~1 mA), which are much lower than reported in literature ~MW discharge. The number of atomic peaks of the sample increases, on the other hand, and gradual peaks become stronger with the increase of discharged HV from 1 kV to 1.5 kV, 1.75 kV, 2 kV, 2.5 kV and 2.8 kV. The discharge current increases from 0.2 mA to 1.5 mA, which is almost threshold discharge voltage. After processing, the original spectra, including the peak shift and peak correction by statistics and physics, resulted in achievement of better line stability in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD) of ash, carbon, and volatile coal samples with root mean square error prediction (RMSEP) of 0.4864, 0.3682, 0.3374 and the linear regression coefficient R² = 0.99, 0.99,0.98, respectively. The result proposes a promising method to improve detection accuracy of LIBS with simple setup, high safety and low-cost.