Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a micro-destructive technique that gives elemental analysis of materials through analysing the plume created by ablation of the material by a high intensity laser beam focused to a spot <1mm. LIBS is sensitive to nearly all elements. Remote LIBS allows the analysis of monuments and objects from distances up to tens of metres. It is especially suited to applications on architectural and archaeological sites.
Fields of application
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Cultural heritage
archaeological object and site, architecture, art, decorative arts, painting, sculpture
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Natural heritage
fossil, mineral, shell
Materials
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inorganic
stone, metal and metallurgical By-Products, pigment
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organic
wood, pigments
TOOLS
The remote LIBS system uses a Nd:Yag pulsed laser at 1064nm with pulse duration ~5ns that focuses 40mJ of light into a spot size of ~1 mm to ablate the material. The pulse energy can be adjusted and can ablate successive layers in depth by applying multiple laser pulses. A telescope collects light from the...