Radiation effects for a ceramics and a single crystal microchip of a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system for remote analysis

Tamura, Koji*; Nakanishi, Ryuzo*; Oba, Hironori  ; Wakaida, Ikuo  

For the remote elemental analysis in radiation environment, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system has been developed, where microchip laser (MCL) using a Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG composite was utilized. In this development, composite ceramics was used as a gain medium, because of its promising features. In this study, for the development of the remote LIBS system applicable in radiation environment, radiation effects to the properties of the ceramics Nd:YAG MCL as well as conventional single crystal Nd:YAG MCL were measured and compared. The results indicate that radiation effects to ceramics MCL, which will lead to LIBS signal reduction, were much larger than those to single crystal, and single crystal MCL is more robust as a laser source for LIBS system than ceramics when applied in radiation environment.