CHAPTER 3: Open-air Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a versatile spectrochemical technique that probes the elemental composition of materials, exploiting the light emitted by a transient plasma generated as a result of the interaction between a short laser pulse and the sample or object being examined. It has been increasingly employed in the analysis of archaeological and historical objects, monuments and works of art for assessing the qualitative, semiquantitative and quantitative elemental content of diverse materials such as pigments, pottery, glass, stone, metals, minerals, biomaterials and fossils. In this chapter, the basic physical background of LIBS is briefly outlined and technical details are presented concerning the instrumentation and how analysis is performed and data are interpreted and used. Case studies are presented to illustrate how LIBS has been employed in support of archaeological science, art history and conservation studies.