Recent Applications of Laser‐Induced Breakdown Spectrometry: A Review of Material Approaches

Abstract

The use of laser‐induced breakdown spectrometry (LIBS) has grown steadily, and it has proven to be a relatively dynamic research activity for performing direct spectrochemical elemental or metal analysis of a variety of materials, solids, liquids, and gases, with none or little sample pretreatment procedures. Significant progress has been made during the last several years on the diverse and versatile applications of LIBS including remote material analysis in nuclear power stations, space exploration, diagnostics of archaeological objects, and metal diffusion in solar cells, etc. This review presents the more recent applications of LIBS based on the development of fiber‐optic (FO) technology and portable instrumentation. The characteristics of matrices, object of analysis, laser system used, and analytical performances are tabulated for metallurgical samples, liquid and colloid samples, aerosol and gases, environmental samples, non‐metallic solids, advanced materials, and miscellaneous applications.

Keywords:

• Laser‐induced breakdown spectrometry
• Laser‐induced plasma
• Quantitative elemental analysis
• Environmental analysis
• Laser ablation

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by the Korea Science & Engineering Foundation (Grant No R05‐2003‐000‐11385‐0).