Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a powerful analytical technique that is used to analyze materials. It has numerous applications, from pharmaceuticals to mining, and is even used by NASA rovers to explore Martian soil. 

LIBS enables a direct, rapid, simultaneous, multi-element, low analytical cost, and environmentally clean analysis that requires little sample preparation. 

It works in three very rapid steps: first, a powerful laser is fired at the sample surface, irradiating it, and therefore creating a plasma. When the laser is turned off, the samples’ electrons return to their previous state, emitting the absorbed energy as electromagnetic radiation. The radiation emitted by each element has a specific wavelength, which is measured and used to determine the precise elemental composition of the material sample.

Although LIBS is a very powerful system to identify and quantify elements in soils, the quantitative analysis is not so trivial, mainly in complex samples such as soils, which present quite varied compositions both in terms of texture, granulometry, and chemical composition.

The LaserAg system is a very special application of the powerful LIBS technology. We have created and patented a process to enable it to analyze very complex matrices, such as agricultural soil, forage, and plant tissue, in addition to quantifying the identified elements.