Hydrogen isotopic analysis of nuclear reactor materials using ultrafast laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is a promising method for rapidly measuring hydrogen and its isotopes, critical to a wide range of disciplines (e.g. nuclear energy, hydrogen storage). However, line broadening can hinder the ability to detect finely spaced isotopic shifts. Here, the effects of v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Optics express Vol. 29; no. 4; pp. 4936 - 4946
Main Authors:	Kautz, E J, Devaraj, A, Senor, D J, Harilal, S S
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Optical Society of America (OSA) 15-02-2021
Subjects:	SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is a promising method for rapidly measuring hydrogen and its isotopes, critical to a wide range of disciplines (e.g. nuclear energy, hydrogen storage). However, line broadening can hinder the ability to detect finely spaced isotopic shifts. Here, the effects of varying plasma generation conditions (nanosecond versus femtosecond laser ablation) and ambient environments (argon versus helium gas) on spectral features generated from Zircaloy-4 targets with varying hydrogen isotopic compositions were studied. Time-resolved 2D spectral imaging was employed to detail the spatial distribution of species throughout plasma evolution. Results highlight that hydrogen and deuterium isotopic shifts can be measured with minimal spectral broadening in a ∼ 10 Torr helium gas environment using ultrafast laser-produced plasmas.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 AC05-76RL01830 PNNL-SA-157227 USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
ISSN:	1094-4087 1094-4087
DOI:	10.1364/OE.412351