Article on Laser Ablation Chemical Analysis – LIBS, LA-ICP-MS/OES, and LAMIS

Laser Ablation–Based Chemical Analysis Techniques: A Short Review

by Dr. Jhanis Gonzalez

Laser ablation is a powerful approach to chemical analysis because of its versatility.  It has advantages in chemical analysis including direct characterization of solids, no chemical procedure of dissolution, which reduces the risk of contamination or sample loss, analysis of very small samples not separable from solution analysis, and determination of spatial distribution of elemental composition.

This article, recently published in Spectroscopy, reviews the most common laser ablation techniques such as LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) and LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectrometry), as well as introduces the exciting possibility of LAMIS (Laser Ablation Molecular Isotopic Spectrometry).

Schematic diagram of laser-based analytical techniques:
Schematic diagram of laser-based analytical techniques: LIBS, LAMIS, and LA-ICP-MS or LC-ICP-OES

About Dr. Jhanis Gonzalez

Technical Director, Product R&D and Management

Jhanis Gonzalez, Ph.D, has researched the chemical analysis of solid samples with Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and LA-ICP-MS as well as fundamental ablation mechanisms for more than a decade. He was a Visiting Scientist, Chemist Postdoctoral Fellow, and currently serves as a Project Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

He has published numerous peer-reviewed journal papers on the topic of laser ablation chemical analysis. At Applied Spectra, he is leading the product research and development efforts to make our LA, LIBS, and Tandem LA-LIBS instruments the most innovative and differentiated products in the world.

Read more about Dr. Gonzalez…

Jhanis Gonzalez, Ph.D

Learn more about how to apply Laser Ablation Based Chemical Analysis Techniques from Dr. Jhanis Gonzalez:

Dr. Jhanis Gonzalez will lecture about fundamentals of laser ablation and how to apply LIBS and LA-ICP-MS to your analytical problems at these world class spectroscopy conferences.

Scix 2017

October 8-13, 2017 in Reno, NV

SciX 2017 logo

Intro to Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

  • Speaker: Jhanis Gonzalez, Applied Spectra / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Date/Time: October 8 / 9:00 am – Noon
  • Rate: Conferee: $225; Student: $25; Non-Conferee: $325

Course Introduction:

Laser ablation in analytical chemistry is a sampling process; a short-pulsed laser beam is used to remove mass from a sample for subsequent ICP-MS/OES analysis. Laser ablation is also used to create luminous plasma whose emission spectra can be analyzed for elemental analysis (LIBS). This short course overviews laser ablation fundamentals and processes that impact the analytical performance of both LA-ICP-MS and LIBS.

This course will present the latest advance to combine optical and particle detection during laser sampling to perform simultaneous LIBS and LA-ICP-MS analysis (Tandem LA – LIBS). Various examples of analytical applications and data analysis will be used to bring practical perspective on effective use of these techniques.