Abstract
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been used to identify the impurities in the allyl diglycol carbonate, which is used as a charged particle track recording material in solid-state nuclear track detectors. Impurities of magnesium, calcium, sodium and silicon are detected. Plasma parameters such as temperature and electron density are also calculated at optimized conditions in air and argon atmosphere using the silicon lines. The temperature of the LIBS plasma produced in argon atmosphere was higher than the temperature of the LIBS plasma produced in air. Variation in the emission intensity of the carbon I line (247.8561 nm) with respect to acquisition delay and laser power is also studied. It is found that the intensities of Ca and Na lines from LIBS spectra were enhanced 30-40 times in an argon atmosphere as compared to air. Hence LIBS in an argon atmosphere can be used for better identification of impurities in plastics.