LIBS analysis of geomaterials: Geochemical fingerprinting for the rapid analysis and discrimination of minerals

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a simple atomic emission spectroscopy technique capable of real-time, essentially non-destructive determination of the elemental composition of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas). LIBS, which is presently undergoing rapid research and development as a technology for geochemical analysis, has attractive potential as a field tool for rapid man-portable and/or stand-off chemical analysis. In LIBS, a pulsed laser beam is focused such that energy absorption produces a high-temperature microplasma at the sample surface resulting in the dissociation and ionization of small amounts of material, with both continuum and atomic/ionic emission generated by the plasma during cooling. A broadband spectrometer-detector is used to spectrally and temporally resolve the light from the plasma and record the intensity of elemental emission lines. Because the technique is simultaneously sensitive to all elements, a single laser shot can be used to track the spectral intensity of specific elements or record the broadband LIBS emission spectra, which are unique chemical ‘fingerprints’ of a material. In this study, a broad spectrum of geological materials was analyzed using a commercial bench-top LIBS system with broadband detection from ∼200 to 965 nm, with multiple single-shot spectra acquired. The subsequent use of statistical signal processing approaches to rapidly identify and classify samples highlights the potential of LIBS for ‘geochemical fingerprinting’ in a variety of geochemical, mineralogical, and environmental applications that would benefit from either real-time or in-field chemical analysis.