Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy of RDX and HMX with nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond pulses

Herein we present some of our initial experimental results obtained from the laser induced breakdown spectroscopic (LIBS) measurements of RDX and HMX using nanosecond (ns), picosecond (ps), and femtosecond (fs) laser pulses acquired without gating and delay. RDX and HMX were mixed with KBr and pellets were prepared for the spectroscopic studies. Nanosecond pulses at 532 nm, ps/fs pulses at 800 nm were used for the experiments. The spectra were collected using Ocean Optics 4000/Maya spectrometer using a UV transmitting, 400 mu m core diameter fiber in one case and a combination of lenses to collect the light from plasma in the second case. Several features were observed in the spectra exclusive for each pulse domain. The differences/similarities in the spectra collected using different pulses are presented.