Enhancement of intensity in microwave-assisted laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for remote analysis of nuclear fuel recycling

Tampo, Motonobu; Miyabe, Masabumi   ; Akaoka, Katsuaki ; Oba, Masaki ; Oba, Hironori  ; Maruyama, Yoichiro; Wakaida, Ikuo 

An enhancement of emission intensity from laser ablation plume, obtained by coupling a pulsed microwave using a simple wire antenna, is demonstrated to compensate the sensitivity reduction of super-high resolution spectrometer that is required for nuclear fuel analysis. A gadolinium oxide sample was irradiated with 2.45 GHz, 250 W microwave pulse, passed through a loop antenna. As a result, up to 50 fold enhancement of emission signal was achieved for gadolinium ions. The enhancement enabled to measure the mass concentration of europium per gadolinium, ranging from 5% to 100 ppm, and based on the extrapolation of calibration curve the detection limit was estimated to be significantly lower than 100 ppm. This offers a flexible and compact system of microwave-assisted laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for nuclear fuel analysis.