Evaluation of a compact spectrograph/detection system for a LIBS instrument for in-situ and stand-off detection

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a method of determining the elemental composition of a material at in-situ or stand-off distances. The information content of the plasma is high. For this reason, LIBS is being developed for instruments to planet surfaces. Each laser plasma generates a light signal containing a high density of information regarding the elemental components of the target material. The useful spectral range of the emitted light extends from the vacuum ultraviolet ({approx} 120 nm) out to 850 nm. Within these extreme are strong emission features from all elements useful to identify the element in the target and also to perform quantitative analysis. The detection system (spectrograph and detector) used to process the plasma light determine sthe quality and quantity of the data gathered. The processing of the collected plasma light by the spectrograph and detector includes (1) spectral dispersion of the light, (2) recording the spectrally resolved light signal and (3) converting the photonic information to digital form. The characteristics of these two components are crucial to the performance of a LIBS instrument. Spectrographs and detection systems being considered by us for a LIBS flight instrument include a very compact grating type spectrograph integrated in a single package with a CCD detector. An example is the commercially-available Ocean Optics HR2000 spectrograph. This system provides spectral coverage over a fixed limited range with a certain spectral resolution. For such a system, the trade off is between spectral coverage and resolution. Additional units may be used, however, to monitor simultaneously other spectral ranges. A second type of detection system under consideration is an echelle spectrography with a 2-dimensional array detector. Inherently, this system provides complete spectral coverage with the resolution being determined by the size of the spectrography and pixel spacing of the detector array. Both systems are being evaluated. Here they present an evaluation of the HR2000 system.