Spectroscopy of laser-induced plasmas: an interdisciplinary research program for the 21st Century

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Plasmas are high-temperature gases that contain free electrons, ions, and atoms. The light emitted by these plasmas contains information about which atoms and molecules comprise the plasma. When a powerful pulse of laser light is focused to a very tight spot on some target material, the incredible energy of the laser pulse rips the material apart atom by atom, creating a miniature plasma that looks like a small spark-plug spark. Because it was created by a laser, we call this a laser-induced plasma (LIP). The LIP is relatively easy to create and control, and it can be created on almost any material one can imagine, which makes it a very powerful and attractive analytic tool for rapidly and easily determining the composition of an unknown target. By firing the laser at a specimen containing bacteria, I can rapidly determine the atomic composition of the bacteria, and thus uniquely identify it. This ability to detect and identify bacterial pathogens in near real-time is important in many facets of human life, including clinical medicine and in hospitals, in the law-enforcement and first-responder community, in food and beverage hygiene, and in drinking/swimming water cleanliness and safety. As such, it has the potential to impact all Canadians in many aspects of their lives. The LIP is also a perfect laboratory environment to make exotic ions of unusual elements that can then be measured to determine their unique atomic properties. This information is vital for astronomers and astrophysicists who see these elements in the light coming from distant stars. When we make these types of measurements we call this "laboratory astrophysics," and these measurements will benefit scientists all over Canada and the world. The applications of LIPs in industry, manufacturing, environmental monitoring, and fundamental science (to name just a few fields) are numerous and are growing every day. By training highly-qualified personnel in Windsor, we are preparing Canadian scientists and researchers to play a lead role in the development of this exciting new scientific technique and to be able to design, build, and utilize the next generation of high-technology apparatus.