Elemental Quantitative Distribution and Statistical Analysis on Cross Section of Stainless Steel Sheet by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

An innovative application of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry （LA-ICP-MS） technique in illustrating elemental distributions on stainless steel sheets was presented. The technique proved to be a systematic and accurate ap- proach in producing visual images or maps of elemental distributions at cross-sectional surface of a stainless steel sheet. Two stain- less steel sheets served as research objects： 3 mm×l 300 mm hot-rolled stainless steel plate and 1 mm×l 260 mm cold-rolled plate. The cross-sectional surfaces of the two samples at 1/4 position along the width direction were scanned （raster area -44 mm2 and 11 mm2） with a focused laser beam （wavelength 213 nm, diameter of laser crater 100 μm, and laser power 1.6 mJ） in a laser abla- tion chamber. The laser ablation system was coupled to a quadrupole ICP-MS, which made the detection of ion intensities of 27A1＋, 44Ca＋, 47Ti-, 55Mn＋ and 56Fe＋ within an area of interest possible. One-dimensional （ID） content line distribution maps and two- dimensional （2D） contour maps for specific positions or areas were plotted to indicate the element distribution of a target area with high accuracy. Statistic method was used to analyze the acquired data by calculating median contents, maximum segregation, sta- tistic segregation and content-frequency distribution.

Enhancing the expansion of a plasma shockwave by crater-induced laser refocusing in femtosecond laser ablation of fused silica

The dynamics of plasma and shockwave expansion during two femtosecond laser pulse ablation of fused silica are studied using a time-resolved shadowgraph imaging technique. The experimental results reveal that during the second pulse irradiation on the crater induced by the first pulse, the expansion of the plasma and shockwave is enhanced in the longitudinal direction. The plasma model and Fresnel diffraction theory are combined to calculate the laser intensity distribution by considering the change in surface morphology and transient material properties. The theoretical results show that after the free electron density induced by the rising edge of the pulse reaches the critical density, the originally transparent surface is transformed into a transient high-reflectivity surface(metallic state). Thus, the crater with a concave-lens-like morphology can tremendously reflect and refocus the latter part of the laser pulse, leading to a strong laser field with an intensity even higher than the incident intensity. This strong refocused laser pulse results in a stronger laser-induced air breakdown and enhances the subsequent expansion of the plasma and shockwave. In addition, similar shadowgraphs are also recorded in the single-pulse ablation of a concave microlens, providing experimental evidence for the enhancement mechanism.