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Laser-induced breakdown spectrometry has been evaluated at high temperatures for stainless steel samples. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm was used to create a microplasma on an AISI 304L stainless steel sample placed inside a laboratory oven. The steel sample was 51.5 cm away from the focusing lens. The temperature of the samples ranged from 25 to 1200 ³C. The plasma light was collected by means of a ®ber optic bundle, spectrally resolved and then detected by a CCD camera. The effects of sample temperature in the formation of a laser-induced plasma have been studied in terms of its spectral features as well as the morphology of the ablated craters in air at atmospheric pressure. A noticeable dependence of signal emission intensity on sample temperature has been found. Depth pro®ling of stainless steel samples for several temperature conditions was performed. Results have revealed changes in the super®cial composition at temperatures above 600 ³C due to the formation of a slag layer of variable thickness, mainly composed of chromium, iron and manganese oxides.

The refractive index and extinction coefficient of chemical vapour deposition grown graphene are determined by ellipsometry analysis. Graphene films were grown on copper substrates and transferred as both monolayers and bilayers onto SiO 2 /Si substrates by using standard manufacturing procedures. The chemical nature and thickness of residual debris formed after the transfer process were elucidated using photoelectron spectroscopy. The real layered structure so deduced has been used instead of the nominal one as the input in the ellipsometry analysis of monolayer and bilayer graphene, transferred onto both native and thermal silicon oxide. The effect of these contamination layers on the optical properties of the stacked structure is noticeable both in the visible and the ultraviolet spectral regions, thus masking the graphene optical response. Finally, the use of heat treatment under a nitrogen atmosphere of the graphene-based stacked structures, as a method to reduce the water content of the sample, and its effect on the optical response of both graphene and the residual debris layer are presented. The Lorentz-Drude model proposed for the optical response of graphene fits fairly well the experimental ellipsometric data for all the analysed graphene-based stacked structures.