In situ chemical analysis of natural water composition using laser ablated plasmas

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25709084
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Naval and maritime engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Thornton Blair 東京大学, 生産技術研究所, 特任准教授 (60526789)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: レーザー誘起破壊分光 / 自然水 / 化学分析 / 分光分析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this research is to develop a technique for in situ, multi-element analysis of natural river, lake and oceanic fluids. The method developed is based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. In this technique, a high power laser pulse of focused into a bulk fluid to generate a plasma. By observing the spectrum of light emitted from the plasma, it is possible to perform realtime element analysis of ionic species dissolved in seawater. In this research, we demonstrated that the technique can be applied to the high-pressure high-temperature environments that exist on the seafloor. Furthermore, we demonstrated that by measuring the shot-to-shot energy of the laser pulse used and monitoring the temporal evolution of each plasma that is generated, it is possible to significantly improve the quantitative performance of the developed method.

Free Research Field

海洋フォトニックス