Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Imaging for Material and Biomedical Applications: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives
Vincent Gardette, Vincent Motto‐Ros, César Álvarez-Llamas, Lucie Sancey, Ludovic Duponchel, Benoît Busser
Abstract
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a versatile analytical tool for studying \nthe elemental composition of any kind of sample, such as solids, liquids or gases. One of the \nlatest developments in this technique is the ability to use it for elemental imaging, that is to \nsay spatially resolved surface analysis. LIBS imaging is becoming a very attractive and \npopular technique for the qualitative and/or quantitative spectrochemical characterization \nof specimens for a wide range of applications. Because of its unique set of intrinsic \nadvantages, LIBS imaging is frequently preferred over competitive and complementary \ntechniques for elemental imaging. \nThis review recapitulates the technical fundamentals of LIBS imaging and focuses on \nsignificant applications that have received the most promising attention and have undergone \nmajor advances during the last three years in the industrial, geological and biomedical fields. \nWe also discuss the current limitations that hinder the further development of LIBS imaging, \nas well as perspectives on the use of LIBS as a part of multimodal imaging strategies, the \ncontribution of chemometrics, and ideas for improving the limits of detection and \nquantification aspects.