Temporal and spatial evolution measurement of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy on hydrogen retention in tantalum

Fuel retention measurement on plasma-facing components is an active field of study in magnetic confinement nuclear fusion devices. The laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) diagnostic method has been well demonstrated to detect the elemental distribution in PFCs. In this work, an upgraded co-axis LIBS system based on a linear fiber bundle collection system has been developed to measure the hydrogen (H) retention on a tantalum (Ta) sample under a vacuum condition. The spatial resolution measurement of the different positions of the LIBS plasma can be achieved simultaneously with varying delay times. The temporal and spatial evolution results of LIBS plasma emission show that the H plasma observably expands from the delay times of 0–200ns. The diameter of Ta plasma is about 6mm which is much less than the size of H plasma after 200ns. The difference in the temporal and spatial evolution behaviors between H plasma and Ta plasma is due to the great difference in the atomic mass of H and Ta. The depth profile result shows that H retention mainly exists on the surface of the sample. The temporal and spatial evolution behaviors of the electron excited temperature are consistent with that of the Ta emission. The result will further improve the understanding of the evolution of the dynamics of LIBS plasma and optimize the current collection system of in situ LIBS in fusion devices.