Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Of Hafnium Doped Vitrified Glass

An all optical probe for measurement of elements in glass matrices of potential use in the US Department of Energy's plutonium immobilisation programme is described in this paper (hafnium is used here as a plutonium surrogate). A compact fieldable instrument, based on laser induced breakdown spectroscopy, has been assembled for quantitative elemental analysis of solid and molten glass. Reliable experimental conditions have been identified and concentration calibration curves obtained for hafnium doped glass.