Chapter 1 - Fundamentals of LIBS and recent developments

Abstract

When a pulsed laser beam of high intensity is focused on a target, it generates plasma from the material. In recent years there has been much interest both in an increased understanding of laser-induced plasmas (LIPs) and in the development of their applications. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is used for elemental analysis of targets from which the luminous plasma is generated and it can also be applied to determine the temperature, electron density, and atom density in the LIP. Reliable elemental analysis needs knowledge of laser wavelength, its irradiance, the amount of ablated and vaporized sample, and the ability of the resulting plasma to absorb the optical energy. During the last decade, some very significant progress has been made in the three basic components of LIBS, namely instrumentation, mechanism of LIP, and spectral data processing algorithms. A classic example of these developments is represented by the use of LIBS equipment on board the Curiosity rover exploring the surface of Mars. This chapter briefly describes the basic components and the underlying physical processes that are essential to appreciate the range of applications and power of LIBS.