Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy that uses a highly energetic laser pulse as the excitation source. The laser, focused on the material under study, generates a plasma when the laser fluence overcomes a certain threshold for optical breakdown, condition that generally depends on the environment and the target material. The spectroscopic analysis of the emitting plasma reveals the elemental composition of the sample material.
LIBS allows the characterization of the elemental composition of different materials and identification of their stratigraphies.