Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is an atomic emission spectroscopy technique that uses a high energy laser pulse as the excitation source. The laser atomizes and excites a small
amount of material from the sample’s surface (nanogram to picogram quantities),
forming a plasma plume that emits light at frequencies characteristic to the
elements present in the sample. LIBS is a surface interrogation technique and therefore
may not detect species present in the interior of a sample unless the sample is
homogenized prior to analysis. The sensitivity of LIBS is in the ppm range,
analysis time is essentially real-time, no sample preparation is typically
required (unless homogenation is desired), and the technique is considered
non-destructive.