Optical spectroscopic diagnosis of electron temperature and density for zn-al alloy plasma: effect of laser energy on plasma parameters

Abstract

In this study, the properties of plasma produced from zinc and aluminum alloy were investigated using laser spectroscopy techniques. The alloy was locally manufactured and consisted of 20 to 80 percent zinc and aluminum, respectively. Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG) laser with a fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm was used with a variable laser energy from 500 to 900 mJ In order to study the behavior of plasma and determine its general properties such as electron density and temperature. Boltzmann plot method was employed to ascertain the temperature of the electrons, in addition to using Stark expansion method to calculate the electron density. Based on these two basic parameters, the rest of the additional plasma parameters were calculated and determined. The results obtained from this study showed that there is a clear effect of laser energy on the plasma parameters, as the temperature and electron density increased significantly with the increase in laser energy, as these parameters gradually increased with the increase of laser energy. The maximum value of the electron temperature was 0.918 eV at 900 MJ, while the electron temperature was 0.537 eV at 500 mJ. On the other hand, the results showed an increase in both the Debye number and plasma frequency at high laser energies, while the Debye length showed a clear decrease at high power. The main purpose of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the properties of plasma and how laser power affects these properties, which opens the way for many applications, including engraving and marking on metals and many industrial and technological applications.