Raw signal improvement using beam shaping plasma modulation for uranium detection in ore using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Real-time quantitative detection of uranium in ores is one of the major challenges for uranium exploration. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been regarded as a most promising technique for this application. However, due to the matrix complexity as well as low uranium concentration of ore, the detection sensitivity of LIBS for uranium in ores is still unsatisfactory. This work explored the potential of a beam-shaping plasma modulation method to improve the limit of detection of uranium in ores. By shaping the profile of laser beam from normally Gaussian distribution to flat-top, the plasma was modulated to be more excited with reduced peak electron density at the laser-plasma interaction point for plasma shielding reduction especially at high laser energy as well as to be more morphologically stable for LIBS signal repeatability improvement. It was further found that this method enhanced LIBS signal intensity mainly by increasing the plasma temperature, while the electron density was almost unchanged, which was very attractive for uranium detection in ore since one of the major problem for uranium detection was that it is hard to find clear uranium spectral lines for analysis due to the high dense emission lines of ore samples in real cases and lower electron density, indicated less line broadening and less line overlap or interferences. A clear uranium emission line has been found in crowded ore spectra, and the intensity of U II 409.013 nm based on flat-top beam was about 5 times higher than that of Gaussian beam, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the signal was reduced by about 50%. Moreover, the LOD of uranium in ores was estimated to be 21.2 ppm with flat-top beam, indicating that beam shaping is a promising method for rapid and accurate detection of uranium in ores.