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Influence of laser beam characteristics and focusing optics on optical laser-induced breakdown detection

  • Clemens Walther*
  • , W. Hauser
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Abstract

Laser-induced breakdown detection (LIBD) is a well established technique for measuring size and concentration of inorganic colloids in liquids. However, most applications of LIBD are restricted to the measurement of mean sizes, which is problematic in cases of wide colloid size distributions (PSD) as typically is the case in natural systems. Evaluation of PSDs from LIBD is possible but requires detailed control of the power density within the laser focus. In the present work we describe the mathematical treatment how to calculate this power density from the beam characteristics of the light source and the optical properties of the focusing optics. The results are compared to measured spatial distributions of breakdown events of three LIBD setups.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)877-886
Number of pages10
JournalApplied Physics B: Lasers and Optics
Volume97
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2009
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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