Real-time measurement of the size and composition of airborne particles is important for cleanroom evaluation, in-line vacuum monitoring, and environmental-pollutant detection. Information
about the size of airborne particles in the 0.1–1-mdiameter range is readily obtained with commercially available systems that relate the magnitude of the elastically scattered light to the particle size. Data about the composition of airborne particles can be obtained through time-of-flight mass spectrometry, molecular spectroscopy, and off-line through microscopical analysis; however, these techniques are not well-suited to applications involving low concentrations of particles. This work demonstrates the use of laser-induced incandescence (LII) simultaneously with a measurement of elastically scattered light to concurrently determine the size and boiling point of a single airborne particle.

- Michelle Stephens, Nelson Turner, and Jon Sandberg