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8 - Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Theory and Laboratory Spectra of Geologic Materials

from Part I - Theory of Remote Compositional Analysis Techniques and Laboratory Measurements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2019

By
Samuel M. Clegg ,
Ryan B. Anderson  and
Noureddine Melikechi
Edited by
Janice L. Bishop ,
James F. Bell III  and
Jeffrey E. Moersch
Janice L. Bishop
Affiliation:
SETI Institute, California
James F. Bell III
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Jeffrey E. Moersch
Affiliation:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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Summary

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is the remote elemental analysis technique used by the ChemCam instrument on the Curiosity rover. LIBS involves remotely ablating material from rocks and soils with a focused high-energy laser, which generates an optically excited plasma from which the elements in the rock or soil sample are quantitatively determined. The LIBS technique offers many advantages for remote chemical analysis. LIBS provides very rapid analyses without the need for any sample preparation. LIBS is capable of detecting all elements present above the detection limits independent of the atomic mass. LIBS quantitative analysis continues to evolve and produce accurate compositions with decreasing uncertainties. Furthermore, the matrix effects that tend to complicate most elemental analysis techniques like LIBS are increasingly exploited to extract more sample details. The focus of this chapter is to describe the current state of LIBS chemical analysis for remote planetary science.

Keywords

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)plasma spectroscopyatomic emission spectroscopyelemental analysismultivariate analysis

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Remote Compositional Analysis
Techniques for Understanding Spectroscopy, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry of Planetary Surfaces
 , pp. 168 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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