Journal Publications

University of Florida

  • W. Kersey, J.R. Darvin, E. Villa-Aleman, D.D. Dick, T.C. Steehee, B.J. Foley, and K.C. Hartig, “Drivers for Thermal and Radiolytic Degradation of Plutonium Oxalates,” J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. [Accepted Oct. 2025].

  • P.E. Anderson, J. I. Braun, J. I. Borrero Negrón, K. C. Hartig, and A. P. Rao, “Implementation of stacked ensemble machine learning for detection of surrogate plutonium contamination in soil,” Applied Optics 64 (16), D122-D132 (2025).

  • E. Medici and K. C. Hartig, “Precise Characterization of Plutonium Transition Probabilities,” J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. (2025) [in-press].

  • J. I. Borrero Negrón, Eric W. Realmuto, Ava M. Compitiello, Ashwin P. Rao, Eliel Villa-Aleman, & Kyle C. Hartig, “Machine Learning-Enhanced LIBS for Spectral Discrimination and Chemometric Analysis of Fe Oxalates,” Nucl. Sci. Eng. (2025) [in press].

  • L.R. Sadergaski, R.J. Lascola, K.C. Hartig, “Applications of spectroscopy and chemometrics in nuclear materials analysis,” Front. Nuc. Eng. 3, 1544499 (2025).

  • L. Frigerio, K. Latty, M. Burger, K.C. Hartig, I. Jovanovic, “Filament-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy of Solids Through Highly Scattering Media,” Opt. Lett. 49, 17 (2024).

  • J. I. Braun, P. E. Anderson, J. I. Borrero Negrón, K. C. Hartig, and A. P. Rao, “Spectral data fusion from handheld LIBS and XRF analyzers for improved detection of plutonium in a simulated dispersal accident,” App. Spec. 79 (7), 1078-1090 (2025).

  • K.S. Latty, J. Borrero, T. Arnaud, and K.C. Hartig, “Filament interaction with and spectroscopy of optically levitated microparticles,” Opt. Lett. 49 (8), 2169-2172 (2024).

  • K.S. Latty, J. Borrero, T. Arnaud, and K.C. Hartig, “Atmospheric clearing of solid particles using femtosecond filaments,” Phys. Rev. Applied. 22 (1), 014075 (2024).

  • Ella-Aleman, E.H. Kwapis, B.J. Foley, T.C. Shehee, D.D. Dick, J.R. Darvin, H.M. Ajo, and K.C. Hartig, “Laser-induced plasmas of plutonium dioxide in a double-walled cell, Appl. Spectrosc. 78, 4 (2024) [Cover Article].

  • E.H. Kwapis and K.C. Hartig, Spatiotemporal Characterization of Cerium Monoxide in Laser Ablation Plasmas using Spectrally-Resolved Fast-Gated Imaging, J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 39 (5), 1260-1269 (2024).

  • E.H. Kwapis, J. Borrero, K.S. Latty, H.B. Andrews, S. Phongikaroon, K.C. Hartig, “Laser ablation plasmas and spectroscopy for nuclear applications,” Appl. Spectrosc. 78, 1 (2024) [Cover Article].

  • M. Burger, K.S. Latty, L. Frigerio, T. Arnaud, K.C. Hartig, I. Jovanovic, “Ultrafast Laser-Excited Optical Emission of Xe under Loose-Focusing Conditions,” Sensors 23 (23), 9374 (2023).

  • K.S. Latty, M. Burger, J. Borrero, I. Jovanovic, and K.C. Hartig, “Effects of external focusing and off-axis light collection on aerosol measurements using laser filaments,” Opt. Express 31 (15) (2023).

  • E.H. Kwapis, J. W. Posey, E. Medici, K. Berg, R. Houim, and K.C. Hartig, “Experimental and Computational Investigation into the Turbulent Oxidation Chemistry of Laser Ablation Aluminum Plasmas,” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 5, 15666-15675 (2023). [Highlighted as a HOT Article by Editor]

  • K.S. Latty et al., Emission characteristics of bulk aerosols excited by externally focused femtosecond filaments, Opt. Exp. 31 (15), 24652-24666 (2023)

  • E.H. Kwapis, M. Hewitt, and K.C. Hartig, “Shock Physics and Shadowgraphic Measurements of Laser-Produced Cerium Plasmas,” Opt. Express 31, 6 (2023).

  • K.S. Latty and K.C. Hartig, “Elemental fractionation in aerosol laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy with nanosecond and femtosecond laser ablation,” Spectrochim. Acta B 202, 106648 (2023).

  • K.S. Latty and K.C. Hartig, “Spatiotemporal plasma-particle characterization of dry aerosols using nanosecond, femtosecond, and filament laser-produced plasmas,” Appl. Spec. 78, 7 (2023).

  • E.H. Kwapis, E. Villa-Aleman, and K.C. Hartig, “Spectroscopic Signatures and Oxidation Characteristics of Nanosecond Laser-Induced Cerium Plasmas,” Spectrochim. Acta B: At. Spectrosc. 200, 106610 (2023).

  • E.H. Kwapis, H. Liu, and K.C. Hartig, “Tracking of individual TRISO-fueled pebbles through the application of X-ray imaging with deep metric learning,” Prog. in Nucl. Energy 140, 103913 (2022).

  • M. Burger, L.A. Finney, L. Garrett, S.S. Harilal, K.C. Hartig, J. Nees, P.J. Skrodzki, and I. Jovanovic, “Laser ablation spectrometry for studies of uranium plasmas, reactor monitoring, and spent fuel safety,” Spectrochim. Acta Part B 179, 106095 (2021).

  • X. Xiao, S. Le Berre, D.G. Fobar, M. Burger, P.J. Skrodzki, K.C. Hartig, A.T. Motta, and I. Jovanovic, “Measurement of chlorine concentration on steel surfaces via fiber-optic laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in double-pulse configuration,” Spectrochim. Acta Part B 141, 44-52 (2018).

  • S.S. Harilal, B.E. Brumfield, N.L. LaHaye, K.C. Hartig, M.C. Phillips, Optical spectroscopy of laser-produced plasmas for standoff isotopic analysis,” Applied Physics Reviews 5 (2), 021301 (2018).

  • K.C. Hartig, B.E. Brumfield, M.C. Phillips, S.S. Harilal, & I. Jovanovic,“Evolution of uranium monoxide in femtosecond laser ablation plasmas,” Opt. Express 25 (10), 11477-11490.

  • K.C. Hartig, I. Ghebregziabher, I. Jovanovic, “Standoff Detection of Uranium and its Isotopes by Femtosecond Filament Laser Ablation Molecular Isotopic Spectrometry,” Sci. Rep. 7, 43852 (2017).

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  • M.C. Phillips, B.E. Brumfield, N. LaHaye, S.S. Harilal, K.C. Hartig, I. Jovanovic,“Two-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy of uranium isotopes in femtosecond laser ablation plumes,” Sci. Rep. 7, 3784 (2017).

  • K.C. Hartig, M.C. Phillips, B.E. Brumfield, S.S. Harilal, “Impact of Oxygen Chemistry on the Emission and Fluorescence Spectroscopy of Laser Ablation Plumes,” Spectrochim. Acta B. 135, 54-62 (2017). – With UF Affiliation

The Pennsylvania State University

  • X. Xiao, S. Le Berre, K. C. Hartig, A. T. Motta, I. Jovanovic,“Measurement of Chlorine Concentration on Steel Surfaces by Alkali Element Detection via Laser-Induced Breakdown,” Spectroscopy. Spectrochim. Acta B 130, 67-74 (2017).

  • C. J. Lissenden, S. S. Choi, H. H. Cho, et al., “Toward Robotic Inspection of Dry Storage Casks for Spent Nuclear Fuel,” ASME. J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 139 (3) (2017).

  • I. Ghebregziabher, K. C. Hartig, I. Jovanovic, “Propagation distance-resolved characteristics of filament-induced copper plasma,” Opt. Express 24, 5263-5276 (2016).

  • P. J. Skrodzki, N. P. Shah, N. Taylor, K. C. Hartig, N. L. LaHaye, B. E. Brumfield, I. Jovanovic, M. C. Phillips, S. S. Harilal, “Significance of ambient conditions in uranium absorption and emission features of laser ablation plasmas,” Spectrochim. Acta B 125 112-119 (2016).

  • K. C. Hartig, et al., “Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy using mid-infrared femtosecond pulses”, J. of App. Phys. 118, 043107 (2016).

  • K. C. Hartig, J. P. McNutt, P. Ko, et al., “Pulse chirp effects in ultrafast laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy,” J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 296,135-141 (2013).

  • P. Ko, K. C. Hartig, J.P McNutt, et al., “Adaptive femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of uranium,” Rev. Sci. Instrum. 84, 013104 (2013).

  • B. Yee, K. C. Hartig, P. Ko, J. P. McNutt, I. Jovanovic, “Measurement of boron isotopic ratio with non-gated molecular spectroscopy of femtosecond laser-produced plasma,” Spectrochim. Acta B, 79–80, 72-76 (2013).