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The mysterious power of LIBS: How do lasers instantly shatter matter and reveal its composition?
Laser induced burst spectroscopy (LIBS) is an atomic emission spectroscopy technique that uses strong veľ laser pulses as the excitation source. The sample is vaporized and excited by forming a plasma using focused laser light. Plasma is formed when the focused laser light reaches a certain optical destruction threshold, which usually depends on the environment and the target material.
From 2000 to 2010, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) conducted research on the potential expansion of LIBS technology, focusing on the detection of hazardous materials.
Applications during this time include remote detection of explosive residues and other hazardous materials, identification of plastic landmines, and material characterization of various metal alloys and polymers. Results from the ARL study suggest that LIBS may be able to distinguish between energetic and non-energetic materials.
In 2003, the commercialization of broadband, high-resolution spectrometers enabled LIBS systems to sensitively detect low concentrations of chemical elements.
From 2000 to 2010, ARL's LIBS application research included: testing the detection of Halon substitutes, portable LIBS systems for lead detection in soil and paint, and studying the spectral emission of aluminum and aluminum oxides in different gas environments. and demonstrated detection and discrimination capabilities for geological materials, plastic mines, explosives, and chemical and biological warfare agents.
In the 2010s, LIBS was considered one of the few analytical techniques that could be deployed in the field until 2015, and recent research has focused on miniaturization and portable systems. Some industrial applications of LIBS include material mixture detection, analysis of inclusions in steel, slag analysis in secondary metallurgy, analysis of combustion processes and efficient identification in specific material recovery tasks.
LIBS is also widely used in pharmaceutical sample analysis and is expanding further with data analysis techniques.
In recent studies, LIBS has been investigated as a rapid, minimally destructive food analysis tool suitable for qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis and considered for use as a process analytical technology (PAT) or portable tool. A wide variety of foods, including milk, bakery products, tea, vegetable oils, water, cereals, flour, potatoes, palm dates and different types of meat, have been analyzed using LIBS.
Some studies have shown its potential in detecting adulteration of certain foods. LIBS has also been evaluated as a promising elemental imaging technique in meat. In 2019, researchers from the University of York and Liverpool John Moores University used LIBS to study the remains of 12 European oysters (Ostrea edulis) from Conors Island, Ireland. The results highlight the application of LIBS to determine prehistoric seasonal behavior and biodiversity. Age and growth process.
The development of this technology is undoubtedly moving towards enhanced analytical capabilities, whether in the military, industry or all aspects of life.
LIBS technology using short-pulse lasers has gradually entered the research field. This method creates a plasma column in a gas by focusing ultrafast laser pulses. The generated self-luminous plasma excels in low continuity and small line width. This phenomenon occurs due to the balance between the intensity clamping caused by the strong laser pulse in the dense medium and the fiberization process, thereby avoiding further multiphoton/tunneling ionization processes, showing great potential in material analysis. .
So, as LIBS technology develops, are we ready to embrace more changes brought about by laser technology and make full use of its potential for application in daily life?
