Judging Category
Basic or Experimental Research
Student Rank
Senior
College
Sciences and Mathematics
Faculty Sponsor
Jonathan Merten jmerten@astate.edu
Description
Laser ablation is a widely used sampling method for elemental chemical analysis. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and laser ablation inductively-coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) are the two most common implementations. Application of these techniques is found throughout the sciences, including analysis in archaeological settings, geology, and medical analysis of hard tissue such as teeth or bone. Many applications benefit from the microdestructive nature of the technique. However, the relationship between the laser-ablation crater and the analytical signal is poorly understood. Laser ablation-atomic absorption spectroscopy (LA-AAS) is used in our laboratory to determine the mass of material incorporated into the plasmas in laser-ablation analyses. LA-AAS was performed on yttrium placed under 300 millibar in a helium atmosphere and ablated to create a plasma composed primarily of monatomic gaseous yttrium and the first positive ion of yttrium. This plasma was then probed at various wavelengths and compared to a reference beam to find the amount of light absorbed. By moving the sample relative to the probe, the plasma's shape, size, and temperature were found. The mass of the material removed in each shot was calculated to study the impact of surface conditions on the atomized mass.
Disciplines
Analytical Chemistry | Chemistry
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Gipson, Dawn, "Laser Ablation-Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy of Yttrium Plasma" (2026). Create@State. 25.
https://arch.astate.edu/evn-createstate/2026/posters/25
Included in
Laser Ablation-Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy of Yttrium Plasma
Laser ablation is a widely used sampling method for elemental chemical analysis. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and laser ablation inductively-coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) are the two most common implementations. Application of these techniques is found throughout the sciences, including analysis in archaeological settings, geology, and medical analysis of hard tissue such as teeth or bone. Many applications benefit from the microdestructive nature of the technique. However, the relationship between the laser-ablation crater and the analytical signal is poorly understood. Laser ablation-atomic absorption spectroscopy (LA-AAS) is used in our laboratory to determine the mass of material incorporated into the plasmas in laser-ablation analyses. LA-AAS was performed on yttrium placed under 300 millibar in a helium atmosphere and ablated to create a plasma composed primarily of monatomic gaseous yttrium and the first positive ion of yttrium. This plasma was then probed at various wavelengths and compared to a reference beam to find the amount of light absorbed. By moving the sample relative to the probe, the plasma's shape, size, and temperature were found. The mass of the material removed in each shot was calculated to study the impact of surface conditions on the atomized mass.
