THE CENTRAL Government has awarded a Rs 40-lakh project to the Allahabad University Physics Department to develop laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technology. The technology helps detect composition of soil, liquid, plants, water and other materials.
The technique will help detect harmful elements in food, water and other substances. Prof AK Rai of the AU Physics Department and his team of research students are working on a LIBS project for which they have now received government aid.
Prof Rai said the LIBS is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy which utilises a highly energetic laser pulse as excitation source. The LIBS can analyse any matter regardless of its physical state, be it solid, liquid or gas.
Even slurries, aerosols and gels can be investigated. Because all elements emit light when excited to sufficiently high temperatures, the LIBS can detect all elements. It is limited only by the power of the laser, as well as the sensitivity and wavelength range of the spectrograph & detector. Operationally, the LIBS is similar to the arc/spark emission spectroscopy. Prof Rai said a high intensity laser beam on a material results in formation of plasma. The plasma is fed to a spectrograph through fibre bundle. The spectrograph has a very sensitive detector called charged couple device (CCD). The CCD output is displayed on a monitor and recorded.
“On the basis of readings, one can analyse the material and interpret the records to define its advantages and disadvantages. The technique can give the analysis of contents of Ganga water and thus can help in controlling pollution and effects of toxic material present in water,” added Prof Rai.
{{/usCountry}}“On the basis of readings, one can analyse the material and interpret the records to define its advantages and disadvantages. The technique can give the analysis of contents of Ganga water and thus can help in controlling pollution and effects of toxic material present in water,” added Prof Rai.
{{/usCountry}}Lecture: Dr VK Wadhawan of Raja Ramanna Fellow Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, will deliver a lecture on ‘Smart Structures: The coming revolution’ at 3 pm.