Spectral filtering method for improvement of detection accuracy of Mg, Cu, Mn and Cr elements in aluminum alloys using femtosecond LIBS

In this work, magnesium (Mg), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and chromium (Cr) in aluminum alloy samples were quantified by femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (fs-LIBS). The different parameters affecting the experimental results, including the laser pulse energy, moving speed of the 2D platform and spectral average number were optimized. The background signal preprocessing methods of median filtering (MF corrected) and Savitzky–Golay filtering (SG corrected) algorithms were used and the effect of the LIBS spectral analysis in the experiment investigated. The calibration curves of Mg, Cu, Mn and Cr elements were established separately and their corresponding detection limits (LODs) were calculated. After background correction, the LODs of Mg, Cu, Mn and Cr elements in MF corrected were 54.52, 11.69, 7.33 and 27.72 ppm, and in SG corrected were 59.15, 17.48, 14.75 and 31.97 ppm. The LODs of these elements in MF corrected and SG corrected have 1.4–5.2 and 1.2–2.5 improvement factors compared to those obtained using the fs-LIBS technique. This work demonstrates that background signal preprocessing methods are very helpful for improving analytical sensitivity and accuracy in quantitative analyses of aluminum alloys.