What exactly is Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)?

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a research analysis technology that deploys a short pulse laser to create a high-temperature microscopic plasma layer on the sample’s surface. When the laser beam is focused on the surface, the laser ablation process takes place which removes a small quantity from the specimen. The ionized gas used in this process is plasma which helps it to reach temperatures of up to 1500K.

During the cooling process of plasma, the electrons that were compromised from the material recombine with the atoms and emit a UV, optical, or infra-red spectrum which is collected and passed on through the spectrometer (converts light energy into electric pulses) which measures the wavelength and intensity of light. Further, the spectrometer is coupled with the computer-aided software which compares the spectral lines with the known wavelength and lastly determines the chemical composition of the analyzed sample.

Why LIBS is so popular in the research analysis industry?

LIBS analysis can be done on any state of sample and can easily detect the chemical composition of the material. The method requires minimal sample preparation which saves a lot of time for the operator. Moreover, it has broad elemental coverage which means it can detect lighter elements such as helium, lithium, nitrogen, and oxygen, among others.

Currently, the industry uses hand-held LIBS analyzers owing to the excellent speed (20X faster than handheld XRF) and due to its lightweight user-friendly & rugged nature. Along with this, the consumers who buy the LIBS analyzer do not need to go through regulatory hassles and radiation licensing as there are no radiation concerns which makes it safe than the XRF analyzer.

According to Todd Hardwick, the global marketing manager of TSI Incorporated, the prominent company of the industry, says that LIBS does not require special training which lowers the cost of ownership for the consumer. While the LIBS technology has been used for more than 50 years, the handheld LIBS has been dominating the Market for 7-8 years which has gone through a series of advancements to meet the market requirements.

Even though LIBS has been a popular choice among the industry, there are few disadvantages of LIBS which include the complexity and higher cost. Furthermore, the probability of ocular damage by the high power energy laser can impede market growth.

Applications of LIBS analyzers

• Recycling

LIBS can easily distinguish magnesium and aluminum alloys which have made them popular for the metal recycling applications. Furthermore, the increase in the recycling process across various industry verticals are speculated to proliferate the growth of the hand-held LIBS market.

• Pollution Control & Environment

Climatic change and increase in the pollution have kept the humans on the edge which has surged the on-demand monitoring and testing of the industrial pollution of air and waterways in the arena. Therefore, the rapid industrialization which walks parallel with the environment is anticipated to propel the demand for LIBS products in the market.

• Space exploration

Today, not only SpaceX but various organizations are working to explore the space. The LIBS technology is anticipated to take the center stage for future discoveries and studies of the elements. For instance, the LIBS instrument named ChemCam was used by the Mars rover named Curiosity. Thus, the growing number of space projects and investigation of extraterrestrial bodies is anticipated to fuel the demand for LIBS analyzers in the coming years.

• Semiconductor Industry

The growing semiconductor industry has resulted in the usage of thin-film coatings and substrates which are quite crucial for the applications of high-end products. Therefore, to make sure that the quality of the product is not compromised, the LIBS has been widely adopted for the quality control of the semiconductor wafers & coatings.

• Metallurgy and Mining applications

The mining industry is always looking for new technologies that reduce their sample preparation time to improve productivity and lower the costs. When compared to other techniques, LIBS has been more reliable in the analysis of precious ores, particularly for the gold mines. Over the years, the R&D in the analyzers has made it a preferable option for the metallurgy and mining applications.

Industry Trends and Developments of LIBS market

As per the detailed report by DataIntelo, the global laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) market is speculated to grow at a substantial rate during the forecast period 2020-2026. The growth of the market is attributed to the continuous technological advancements and the increasing applications of LIBS in recycling and metallurgy applications.

Here below mentioned companies are the prominent players of the market which includes their product launches, development, and partnerships.

In November 2017, B&W Tek was granted three spectroscopies for a hand-held NanoLIBS analyzer. The first patent is based on the substrate enhanced LIBS method for liquid analysis which increases the LIBS signal by more than two orders of magnitude. The second one is based on the invention of the compact LIBS spectrometer design while the first constitutes a high repetition rate pulsed laser which helps in obtaining a low noise LIBS spectrum with a dynamic range of more than 10,000.

In 2017, TSI incorporated the launched ChemLine In-Line Metal Analyzer. The company became the sole supplier of the LIBS sensor to AustinAI, manufacturer of metal sorting equipment.

In April 2017, Bruker Introduced new calibration for the EOS hand-held LIBS. After the calibration, the consumer has the option to include iron, nickel, copper, and cobalt calibrations which include the existing aluminum, titanium, and magnesium base allots calibrations.

In May 2019, Hitachi launched an advanced line of LIBS analyzer named Vulcan+ which is particularly optimized for the aluminum alloys.

In November 2019, Rigaku demonstrated its KT series of hand-held LIBS for metal alloys at the FABTEC, the largest industrial event which occurred in Chicago.

In April 2020, Avantes released the software update of AvaSoft which includes the automatic change of measurement mode when LIBS mode is disabled.

The emerging players of the industry are working on the patents to stand out from the behemoths of the market while they are engaging in different business strategies which include a partnership with the government issued organizations for the research purposes. Along with this, the collaboration with the private organizations to expand their market share and development of LIBS software are some of the strategies they’re involved in.

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