Development of laser ablation absorption spectroscopy for nuclear fuel materials: plume expansion behavior for refractory metals observed by laser-induced fluorescence imaging spectroscopy

• Published in: Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Materials science & processing, 2020-03, Vol.126 (3), Article 213
• Main Authors: Miyabe, Masabumi, Oba, Masaki, Akaoka, Katsuaki, Kato, Masaaki, Hasegawa, Shuichi, Wakaida, Ikuo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ablative materials; Applied physics; Atomic properties; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Current State-Of-The-Art in Laser Ablation; Electron recombination; Gadolinium; Hemispherical cavities; Ion recombination; Laser ablation; Laser induced fluorescence; Lasers; Low pressure; Machines; Manufacturing; Materials science; Nanotechnology; Nuclear fuels; Optical and Electronic Materials; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Processes; Rare gases; Recoil; Refractory metals; S.I. : Current State-Of-The-Art in Laser Ablation; Spectrum analysis; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thickness; Thin Films; Titanium; Weight; Zirconium
• ISSN: 0947-8396; 1432-0630
• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-020-3368-0

The dynamic behavior of an ablation plume in low pressure rare gas ambient was investigated with laser-induced fluorescence imaging spectroscopy for three refractory metals, i.e. titanium, zirconium and hafnium. A comparison of the plume expansion behaviors for the species of these elements revealed an atomic weight effect on the plume structure formation. A hemispherical thin layer and cavity structure reported previously for gadolinium were observed also for these elements. It was found that the plume size increases as well as the layer thickness decreases with increasing atomic weight. For ground state atoms of Ti, substantial amount of atoms were observed even at the center of the plume. Also, the persistence of the Ti atomic plume was as long as 300 μs, which was significantly longer than the other species studied. Furthermore, the mass-dependent elemental separation was observed in the ablation plume produced from a multielement sample. These results suggest that the observed plume structure arises from the ion-electron recombination process and the recoil of the ablated species during the multiple collisions with gas atoms.