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Like the Star Trek tricorder, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy can rapidly analyze the composition of materials. The technology is being used in everything from copper and nickel processing to weapons inspection and recycling.
It’s a bit bigger than Mr. Spock’s tricorder, but LIBS can analyze the elemental composition of a solid, liquid or gas.
Remember the tricorder, that fictional device used by Mr. Spock and his colleagues to scan and analyze their environment? Now, researchers are working on a real-life version.
It doesn’t look like the tricorder used in Star Trek, but the ability of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to analyze what things are made of, on the spot, is the same. Plus, it can be set up to perform tests around the clock. And LIBS has a vast number of industrial, environmental, space, security and research applications.
Space: the final frontier: Eat your heart out, Mr. Spock! NRC is developing a small, lightweight version of LIBS that could be attached to a Mars rover, and would analyze the composition of rocks.
The technology consists of a laser and a spectrograph — a device that can detect and measure various frequencies of light. To work, a laser beam is focused on a target where it causes a minute amount of material to heat up and turn (or “break down”) into a gas-like substance called plasma. In turn, the plasma emits light waves, which are then detected by the spectrograph and analyzed. It works because each element emits a unique spectrum of light — for instance, gold, hydrogen and oxygen each emit their own series of wavelengths or colours of light.
Not only can LIBS be used to find out what something is made of, but also to analyze what proportion of each element is present — for instance, what percentage of your ring is gold and how much may be copper or silver.
“There are a myriad of applications for LIBS,” says NRC’s Dr. Mohamad Sabsabi. “It's especially useful where there is a need to analyze the composition of materials rapidly.”
LIBS focuses a laser beam on a target, converting a tiny amount of material into a plasma that emits a unique light spectrum characteristic of the material.
Cleaning up copper processing
One application involves the use of LIBS in copper ore processing. When extracted from the ground, copper ore contains various naturally occurring compounds or impurities. The ore must undergo heat and chemical treatments to extract the copper and wash away the impurities. The resulting waste water contains arsenic, which is then treated and made safe by adding a neutralizing agent.
LIBS is now being used by a Canadian copper mining company to monitor arsenic levels in waste water. The technology allows arsenic levels to be measured around-the-clock in real time so operators know precisely how much neutralizing agent is needed.
Other techniques for doing the measurements take longer, and waiting for test results generally slows the whole process down. But with real-time testing using LIBS, everything can be done faster, says Dr. Sabsabi. And this contributes to a cleaner, more cost-effective process
overall. 
Other LIBS applications include:
- Real-time monitoring of molten nickel: LIBS is being tested at a nickel production facility in northern Ontario to detect iron and sulfur levels in molten nickel. LIBS can be used at a distance, so people don't have to get close to the flowing molten metal, which can reach 1,400°C. LIBS can also measure other impurities hundreds of times a second. “It's the first time in the world we can monitor molten metal real-time, 24/7,” says Dr. Sabsabi.
- Weapons inspection: A portable LIBS prototype is being used by international weapons inspectors to help them verify that countries are complying with nuclear non-proliferation treaties. The device, which weighs only five kilograms, can detect stray uranium oxide particles. What’s more, it can also help users figure out the country of origin of the uranium particles since ore deposits vary in terms of local contaminants. Along with the LIBS device, NRC researchers have created a database listing which type of uranium ore comes from which part of the world.
- Recycling sorting: Before glass can be melted down to make new products, it needs to be sorted according to what materials are present. This is so glass made from recycled materials is of a consistent quality. LIBS can analyze the composition of glass fragments while they are moving on a conveyor belt, and help assure the material is sorted properly.
