The self-absorption effect is one of the main bottlenecks for the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique. In this Letter, LIBS assisted by laser-stimulated absorption (LSA-LIBS) is proposed to solve this problem. The process of LSA in self-absorption reduction is discussed and confirmed. The serious self-absorption phenomena of spectral lines (K, Mn, and Al) were not observed in LSA-LIBS. The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of K, Mn, and Al was reduced by about 58%, 25%, and 52%, respectively. The results demonstrate the capability of this approach to self-absorption reduction in the LIBS technique.

The quantitative analysis of phosphorus in iron/steel in air atmosphere is considered a challenge for LIBS due to strong interference from the matrix.

In order to improve the limit of detection and linearity without losing the advantage of on-line and in-situ measurement, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy assisted by nebulizer is investigated. The influences of the main experimental parameters, namely the defocusing amount, the distance between the nebulizer and the central of laser beam, the ablation energy and the delay are studied to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. Using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy assisted by nebulizer, we demonstrate that the detection limits are 1.2, 3.2, 19.1, 3.4, 2.8, and 15.9 ppm for Ca, Cr, K, Mg, Na, Pb respectively, and the linearities are all above 0.99. The results show that laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy assisted by nebulizer is an effective method to detect the tracing metal element in liquid on-line and in-situ.

Correction for ‘Quantitative analysis of phosphorus in steel using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in air atmosphere’ by Chang Mao Li et al., J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2014, 29, 1432–1437, DOI: 10.1039/C4JA00036F.