Laser Ablation and Generation of Bubbles in Liquids

The plasma and bubble formation in liquids under high intensity laser radiation, as in LIBS, is a challenging problem that ties together several fields. At this time little work has been done in that field to examine the impact of the viscosity and physical properties of the fluid under inspection and impact of the vessel containing the sample. For example, high viscosity fluids tend to damp out the oscillations of bubbles as well as keep the bubbles in place. This last point presents an issue for automated measurement systems since the sample volume is effectively destroyed.