V originále
The relevance of laser-induced plasmas acoustics (LIPAc) investigations has skyrocketed in recent times, raised by NASA´s mission Mars 2020 research with the Mars Microphone, one of the five measurement techniques of SuperCam to record the first sounds on the planet, consisting of wind, dust devils, rover noises, and the laser zaps over geological matter to support the LIBS investigation to obtain unique properties [1]. While LIPAc signal has been succinctly studied and applied to LIBS signal, preferably as a normalization asset to alleviate the shot-to-shot optical signal instability inherent to generated plasmas, only some minor systematic studies on the background of the phenomenon have been conducted [2]. Research herein focused on the evaluation of factors that may condition LIPAc signal, from geometrical (diameter, thickness) and physical (light absorption, porosity) sample-related traits, as well as surrounding-related (type of terrain) and operational conditions (microphone coordinates to the target and to the floor). In addition, effects on LIPAc signal were evaluated when different wavelengths and focal conditions were used to generate plasmas and when recorded with miscellaneous types of microphones. From all this, LIPACs-based mappings were demonstrated to be useful in reflecting the surface morphology of solid targets. Using all this knowledge on LIPAc, recently, the experiments were moved inside a thermal-vacuum chamber (TVC), a facility that allows mimicking planetary environments to evaluate LIPAc signal performance under different pressure and temperature levels, as well as under distinct atmosphere compositions. In short, complete research aimed at contributing to potential uses of the LIBS-LIPAc combination in future space missions.