| Abstract | Field portable technologies and methods are sought to provide simple, inexpensive, and fast analysis of materials in the mining, construction, and other industries. However, the level of portability needed for this particular application imposes some restrictions on the choice of many of the core components used in low-cost LIBS handheld sensor. This means that relatively low-performance components, such as a low-energy laser source and a low cost, low resolution spectrometer, and working conditions in ambient aire at atmospheric pressure must be considered to fulfil these conditions. In addition, the market price of such a portable device should be affordable or as low as possible to increase the breadth of potential end users and allow the deployment of multiple units for security enhancement. The present paper describes the determination of isotope rations using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy in air at atmospheric pressure for partially resolved uranium-235/uranium-238 and hydrogen/deuterium isotope shift lines in such conditions. Using a Partial Least Square (PLS1) regression, it is possible to build a model that enables the accurate determination of the isotopic ration under conditions where the application of traditional univariate approaches for hydrogen and uranium would not be achievable without the use of ultra high resolution spectrometer. In addition, the application of PLS1 regression to determine the uranium-235/uranium-238 and deuterium/hydrogen isotopic rations between 0 and 1 mass fraction was also successfully demonstrated. The performance obtained with such a LIBS sensor will be discussed for nuclear forensics. |
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