Microwave‐Assisted Laser‐Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Enhanced Spectral Emission of Aluminum Plasma

ABSTRACT This study demonstrated an extensive study on the combined method of laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) with the microwave‐assisted (MW) method. A Nd:YAG laser beam is focused on the Aluminum (Al) sample to produce plasma, while the microwave power with intensities of 0 W, 30 W, 50 W, and 70 W is applied to evaluate its contribution to plasma generation. The findings showed the aluminum emission lines were remarkably increased with an enhancement factor of 1.90, 2.37, and 2.78 times at the microwave power of 30 W, 50 W, and 70 W, respectively, as compared to the case when no microwave power was added. The plasma parameters including electron temperature (T e ) and electron density (N e ) are evaluated based on the spectroscopies approaches like Boltzmann plot and the Stark broadening method, respectively. The results showed an important increase in the values of both parameters whenever the microwave power is added to the plasma emission method. The temporal profile of both parameters showed a higher pattern relative to the case when there is no added microwave power. Moreover, the plasma decay rates showed lower decay rates whenever the MW method is employed, thereby confirming the feasibility of the MW‐LIBS method to produce superior plasma performance and efficiency. These outcomes revealed the potential of MW‐LIBS in practical applications, including environmental monitoring and material analysis.