Abstract

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) involves the analysis of the spectral emission from a laser-induced spark. In a typical LIBS measurement, the high power emission from a pulsed laser is focused to a small spot on a sample material. The resulting power density in the small volume about the focal point is usually in excess of several GW/cm². Under these conditions, rapid heating, vaporization and ionization of a small amount of the sample material occurs and the subsequent laser-induced plasma emission is spectroscopically analyzed to yield information about the elemental species present in the sample.

© 1996 Optical Society of America