A Raman-LIBS system to measure planetary surface analog minerals

Both Raman spectroscopy and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) are powerful tools to identify the mineralogy and petrology of geological materials on planetary surfaces, and such identifications are crucial in understanding the geological history and evolutions of our solar system bodies. In recent years, in-situ Raman and LIBS spectrometers have been launched or scheduled to launch to Mars, Venus and the moon, and thus it is important to understand the Raman features of planetary analog materials measured by small Raman systems. For a planetary mission payload, a miniaturized system is required to reduce the launch cost and power consumptions. Here we describe a miniaturized Raman-LIBS system with off-the-shelf components and is capable of performing efficient Raman and LIBS measurements of geological materials including typical planetary analogs. Measurement results indicate that the system has commensurate performance with conventional Raman system when measuring typical geological samples and may be used as a proto-type Raman system in future planetary exploration.