Hydrogen and Deuterium Analysis Using Laser‐Induced Plasma Spectroscopy

Hydrogen emission in laser plasma has been studied by focusing a TEA CO2 laser and Nd‐YAG lasers on various types of samples, such as glass, quartz, and zircaloy pipes doped with hydrogen. It was found that Hα emission with a narrow spectral width occurs with high efficiency when the laser plasma is produced in low‐pressure host gas. In contrast, the conventional well‐known laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), which operates at atmospheric air pressure, cannot be applied for the analysis of hydrogen as impurity. The specific characteristic of hydrogen emission in low‐pressure plasma is interpreted on the basis of our shock wave model, taking account of the fact that the hydrogen mass is extremely light compared to that of the host target. Another experimental study on gas analysis was conducted using an Nd‐YAG laser and helium host gas at atmospheric pressure on a sample of mixed water (H2O) and heavy water (D2O) in vapor form. It was shown that completely resolved hydrogen (Hα) and deuterium (Dα) emission lines that are separated by only 0.179 nm could be obtained at a properly delayed detection time when the charged particles responsible for the strong Stark broadening effect in the plasma have mostly disappeared. It is argued that a helium metastable excited state plays the important role in the hydrogen excitation process.