Mapping and elemental fractionation of aerosols generated by laser-induced breakdown ablation.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been used to map the distribution of particulate matter inside the plume created by laser ablation of a brass target. The spatial density distribution of the different components of the plume was determined in an attempt to reveal the mechanism of fractionation in the process of the laser ablation. In this experiment two Nd:YAG pulsed lasers were used.

Schlieren systems with coherent illumination for quantitative measurements.

Schlieren systems with a coherent light source were investigated by the Fourier optics technique. The imaging properties of the systems with various cutoff filters were studied. Systems with a graded piecewise linear filter and a Gaussian step function convolution (graded) filter are considered, demonstrating that the image can be approximated by the geometrical-optics theory of conventional schlieren systems.

Heterodyne schlieren system.

A new heterodyne technique for the quantitative analysis of schlieren images is described. The technique is based on phase measurements of signals generated by a photodetector observing the variations in light intensity caused by a traveling grating of slits located at the knife-edge plane of a conventional schlieren system. The phase of the signal is proportional to the displacement of the slit image on the knife-edge plane as a result of the light deflection passing through a phase object.