Analysis of alumina-based titanium carbide composites by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy Kaleem Ahmad • Walid Tawﬁk • Wazirzada A. Farooq • Jagdish P. Singh Received: 14 November 2013 / Accepted: 28 May 2014 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract In this work, alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) containing dif- ferent volume % of titanium carbide (TiC) ranging from 0 to 30 were consolidated by the novel spark plasma sintering. The spectroscopic analysis of the plasma generated by irra- diation of laser Nd:YAG (k = 1,064 nm) on different con- centrations of the composites in air atmospheric pressure was performed. The qualitative examination of the composites conﬁrms the presence of aluminum, titanium, and carbon as major elements, while magnesium and sodium have been found as minor trace elements. Plasma parameters were estimated by assuming the LTE conditions for optically thin plasma. The electron density and temperature were evalu- ated by using the Stark broadening and intensity of selected aluminum emission lines, respectively. The addition of TiC to Al 2 O 3 shows a linear behavior with plasma temperature corroborated by the calibration curve of Ti in the composites. The results suggest that calibration curve between plasma temperature and the composites can be used to estimate different concentrations of TiC in Al 2 O 3 without analyzing the whole elements in the composites and thus opens up new applications of LIBS in ceramic industry. 1 Introduction Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has gained renewed interest recently due to its simplicity, high sensi- tivity, fast response, and applicability of this technique to a wide range of materials including polymers, nano-ceram- ics, semiconductors [1–5]. It provides a prompt real-time analysis of materials with high special resolution and depth proﬁling by obviating any lengthy sample preparation and being used in diverse ﬁelds such as nuclear, medical, aerospace, environment [1, 6–9]. LIBS has been demon- strated a proven and versatile technique for multi-elemental analysis of different materials such as ceramics [6, 10], nuclear materials [1], plants [11], semiconductors [5], and artifacts. In addition, its ability to analyze the samples in real time at remote distance, materials in hostile environ- ment especially in the presence of high-temperature and high-radiation zone, and in situ make it promising for online monitoring of materials at different stages of pro- duction chain to improve the quality and product gain in the industry. In particular, LIBS has huge potential appli- cations in ceramic industry for quality assurance and con- trol of materials stoichiometry of different products. For example, the determination of impurities by the LIBS is of great importance for high-performance engineering mate- rials as they are highly detrimental for proper functioning of engineering ceramics, and their presence may affect the mechanical and/or functional performance of the product [1]. Therefore, qualitative determination of impurities at different stages of production of ceramic-cutting tools is essential for quality assurance of the product. K. Ahmad (&) Sustainable Energy Technologies Center, King Saud University, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia e-mail: kimam@ksu.edu.sa W. Tawﬁk  W. A. Farooq Department of Physics and Astronomy College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia W. Tawﬁk Department of Environmental Applications, National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences (NILES), Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt J. P. Singh Institute for Clean Energy Technology (ICET), Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA 123 Appl. Phys. A DOI 10.1007/s00339-014-8544-7