Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for the Detection of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in Meteorites

The spectroscopic characterization of plasma generated in meteorite samples during Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) shows the emission spectrum of elements present and also allows one to rapidly identify the elemental composition without any sample preparation and with good accuracy compared to some other methods. In addition, LIBS has other advantages, such as multi-elemental response, micro-nano gram level of destructiveness and portability of the instrument. Since the presence of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in meteorites is usually in trace levels or not at all, LIBS can be used as a potential alternative method for the meteorite fragment analysis which, in turn, gives valuable clues on its origin as well as the origin of the solar system and its impact on life on Earth, particularly on the presence of REEs. The elemental analysis results for a few of the selected samples, such as iron meteorites, lunar meteorites, eucrites and impact glass, are presented and discussed. The LIBS analysis was supplemented by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with which it was possible to classify the samples into different classes according to their chief constituents, structure and origin.