Hybrid LIBS-Raman-LIF systems for multi-modal spectroscopic applications: a topical review

This review discusses the importance of hyphenating different laser-based techniques such as Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Raman spectroscopy and Laser-Induced Fluorescence spectroscopy (LIF) and the applications of the hybrid systems. These spectroscopic techniques, in single and multi-modes, are widely accepted as an efficient tool to retrieve information from atomic and molecular systems such as knowledge on chemical bonds, molecular structure and geometry, interactions and related mechanisms etc. Analytical capabilities of such systems which combine LIBS, Raman, and LIF are highly desirable since one can acquire complementary information from the same sample enabling a remarkable potential for various applications in diverse fields like archeology, mineralogy, planetary explorations, clinical chemistry, biomedical and environmental monitoring etc to extract more information. In this review, attention has been devoted to the works of combined LIBS-LIF-Raman technique in different fields and its significance, along with brief discussions on other combinations like LIBS-Raman, LIBS-LIF, and Raman-LIF.