Nikola and Ivan participated at BPU 12 conference
12th International Congress of the Balkan Physical Union (BPU 12) was held at National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA in Bucharest, Romania from 8th to 12th July 2025. Nikola and Ivan participated with a poster entitled Detection of Hydrogen Isotopes In Fusion-Relevant Targets with Laser Ablation and Microwave-Induced Plasma which is the joint work with colleagues from Low Temperature Plasma Laboratory at National Institute for Laser Plasma and Radiation Physics (INFLPR), Romania and Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences. Here Nikola presented part of his results obtained in pursue of his PhD thesis. Also, Nikola achieved the award for one of best 20 posters presented at the conference. The abstract of the poster is:
The analysis of plasma facing components (PFCs) of fusion machines using LIBS technique is widely distributed in fusion community. Difficulties arise when the spectroscopic measurements of tritium retention are performed, especially the problem of resolving deuterium (Dα) and tritium (Tα) Balmer alpha lines become a major issue. Therefore, this study exploits the usage of microwave induced plasma (MIP) as a potential solution for the aforementioned problem. The material of the target is introduced into MIP with laser ablation using Nd:YAG laser, and spectral signal is monitored with high resolution spectrometer and ICCD camera. Two silicon-based targets were utilized for these studies. The first target, coated with carbon (C) and methane (CH4), was used for optimization of the measurement system, whereas the second target, coated with C and deuterium (D), was used for final measurements. As a part of the optimization process, ablation rate and crater profiles were studied with an optical profilometer. The final measurement results indicate that, with the current setup, the lowest detectable tritium level would correspond to a Tα line intensity between 30% and 50% of the Dα line intensity. This setup shows a promising tool for this type of analysis, providing reliable and fast determination of tritium content that has been retained in the material.
Milica held an invited lecture at 39th Workshop of International School of Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy
The 39th Workshop of International School of Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy on “Tracks on Photonics: Advanced materials, devices and methods” was held from 4th – 9th July 2025 in Erice, Italy. Milica was invited to give an invited lecture on her work on diagnostics of Laser Induced Plasma of complex liquid samples. Title of the talk was: Interrogating complex liquid samples with Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: fundamental aspects and analytical applications and the abstract of the talk is given below:
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has become an increasingly valuable technique for rapid, in-situ elemental analysis, offering minimal sample preparation and real-time analysis capabilities. While LIBS is well-established for solid materials, its application to liquids presents unique challenges that require specialized approaches [1]. This lecture will examine the principles and practical implementation of LIBS for liquid analysis, focusing on the physical and analytical difficulties inherent to the liquid phase. The main experimental approach that we adopted is Surface-Enhanced LIBS (SENLIBS), in which liquid-to-solid conversion is obtained by depositing and drying the liquid sample on solid substrates with carefully chosen physical properties, so to maximize the laser-substrate coupling [2]. We will also present preliminary results obtained with two variants of SENLIBS, i.e., Nanoparticle-Enhanced LIBS (NELIBS) [3] and Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS)-enhanced LIBS, in which nanostructures are deposited or generated on the substrates prior to the liquid deposition. Finally, we will present two case studies, i.e., detection of heavy metals in oils and elemental analysis of biomedical fluids, to demonstrate the practical applications and performance of LIBS in complex liquid matrices.
References
[1] K. Keerthi, Sajan D. George, Suresh D. Kulkarni, Santhosh Chidangil, V.K. Unnikrishnan, Elemental analysis of liquid samples by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS): Challenges and potential experimental strategies, Optics & Laser Technology, Volume 147, 2022, 107622.
[2] M.A. Aguirre, S. Legnaioli, F. Almodóvar, M. Hidalgo, V. Palleschi, A. Canals, Elemental analysis by surface-enhanced Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy combined with liquid–liquid microextraction, Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, Volumes 79–80, 2013, Pages 88-93.
[3] Z. Salajková, M. Dell’Aglio, V. Gardette, A. De Giacomo, Nanoparticle-Enhanced Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, in Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Concepts, Instrumentation, Data Analysis and Applications, ed. V. K. Singh, D. K. Tripathi, Y. Deguchi and
Z. Wang, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (UK), 2023.
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Ivan won the Student prize of Institute of Physics
We are proud to announce that Ivan won the Student prize of Institute of Physics Belgrade, for the results obtained in his PhD thesis titled “Application of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Plasma Spectroscopy”. Thesis advisors were Doc. Dr. Marijana Gavrilović Božović from Faculty of Engineering of University of Kragujevac and Dr. Milivoje Ivković from Institute of Physics Belgrade.
We wish him all the best in his future work!
Nikola’s first publication
We are happy to inform you that Nikola has published his very first article together with Ivan, Bilja and Ivke from PSL lab and Dragan Ranković and Prof. Miroslav Kuzmanovic from Faculty of Physical Chemistry. Paper is entitled Hydrogen isotopes retention studies using laser and microwave induced plasma coupling (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-96546-x) and it was published in Scientific Reports.
New publication by Bilja, Ivan and Ivke
Bilja, Ivan and Ivke, together with our former colleague Marijana Gavrilović Božović published a paper about detection of absorbed neutrons in first wall of future fusion devices from measurements of Re content in WRe alloy using Laser Induced Fast Pulse Discharge (LIFPD). More about this on: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2025.114943
Project NOVA2LIBS4fusion finished
We are proud to announce that the project NOVA2LIBS4fusion financed by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia is officially finished. The project had researchers from four institutions (IPB served as leading institution, along with Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Faculty of Physical Chemistry and Faculty of Engineering) working together on the improvement of the analytical capabilities of LIBS for the analysis of the plasma facing components (PFCs) of future fusion reactors, as well as its optimization for in-situ application. During the period of three years, we published 5 papers, while 4 are sent to relevant journals and peer review is underway.
Also, as the project has finished, our Head of the Laboratory, Ivke, went into retirement on the 1st February 2025. We wish him happy retirement, good health and all the best in the future!
Ivan defended his PhD thesis
We are proud to announce that Ivan defended his PhD Thesis entitled “Primena mašinskog učenja i veštačke inteligencije u spektroskopiji plazme” (“Application of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Plasma Spectroscopy”) on 18th October 2024 at the Faculy of Physics of University of Belgrade. Thesis advisors were Doc. Dr. Marijana Gavrilović Božović and Dr. Milivoje Ivković, the PhD Defense Committee president was Prof. Dr. Bratislav Obradović while the Committee members were Prof. Dr. Ivan Dojčinović and Dr. Vladimir Srećković.
We wish him all the best in his future work!
Milica is going on a PostDoc studies in Bari
It is our great pleasure to announce that our Lab member Dr. Milica Vinic obtained a PostDoc position at University of Bari in the group of Prof. Dr. Alessandro De Giacomo on a project entitled Enhanced LAser spectroscopy TEchniques for autism Diagnostics in children (ELATED): A combined computational and experimental approach that lasts two years. We wish her good luck in this great new step in her research career and life!
Milica gave an invited lecture at ICSQE2024 conference
The International Conference and School on Quantum Electronics: “Laser Physics and Applications” (ICSQE 2024) was held from 23rd – 27th March in Ravda, Bulgaria. Milica was invited to give an invited lecture on her work on diagnostics of Laser Induced Plasma from thin oil film. The talk was entitled Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for direct determination of heavy metals in oils.
New paper by Ivan, Bilja and Ivke
During the work on the realization of NOVA2LIBS4fusion project financed by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia Ivke, Bilja and Ivan published an article in Spectrochimica Acta B: Atomic Spectroscopy journal entitled Resolving studies of Balmer alpha lines relevant to the LIBS analysis of hydrogen isotope retention
