Laser Plasma Diagnostics Laboratory

Current Research Projects

Our principle research projects are in the following areas:

Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy for Sputter Measurements		Quartz Crystal Microbalance Based Sputter Measurements


We use cavity ring-down spectroscopy to measure the species-specific sputtering particle number density and velocity, and apply this technique to multi-component material sputtering. more...		We use a Quartz Crystal Microbalance to make very high sensitivity differential and total measurements of sputter yields over a full hemisphere for target materials of all types. more...

Laser Based Sensor for Hall Thruster Erosion Measurements		Boron Nitride Sputtering Measurements


Hall thruster lifetimes are limited primarily by thruster channel erosion. We developed a laser based sensor with continuous wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy to measure the sputtering rate in near-real-time. more...		We study sputtering of boron nitride (BN), which is used as an acceleration channel wall material in stationary plasma thrusters (SPTs). more...

Laser Ignition of Internal Combusion Engines		Engine Air-Fuel Ratio from Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)


We demonstrate the use of fiber optics for laser ignition of natural gas engines. more...		We demonstrate the first simultaneous use of laser sparks for laser ignition of a single cylinder natural gas engine and in-cylinder cycle-resolved air fule ratio measurement. more...

Hollow Core and Photonic Crystal Fibers for High Power Pulse Delivery		Prism Based Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy


We demonstrate the use of hollow core fibers and photonic crystal fibers for high power laser delivery for laser ignition. more...		We address the shortcomings of CRDS in the UV region by implementing a prism-based high-finesse optical cavity, allowing for increased sensitivity of sputtering measurements. more...