Novel Signal Enhancement Strategy for Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy via Miniaturized Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge

Herein, a sensitivity enhancement technique for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) by atmospheric pressure glow discharge was proposed, while cylindrical confinement was used for further improvement. A comprehensive parameters evaluation of the proposed technique was carried out (at the laser energy of 30 mJ), with the emission intensities of Ti, Ni, Cu, Y, Ba, La, Eu, Yb, and Lu in soil samples enhanced by 17.8, 5.7, 5.2, 10.5, 7.4, 6.1, 8.7, 7.8, and 8.7 times, respectively. The limits of detection (LODs) of Ti, Ni, Cu, Y, Ba, La, Eu, Yb, and Lu were significantly decreased from 246, 356, 133, 158, 10, 175, 102, 105, and 262 mg kg–1 to 43, 67, 31, 20, 2, 35, 21, 18, and 49 mg kg–1, respectively. In addition, the possible signal enhancement mechanism was preliminarily explained by studying the plasma electron temperature and density with and without the proposed sensitization strategy.