Fast atomic mapping of heterogeneous surfaces using microline-imaging laser-induced breakdown spectrometry

A new approach for quick simultaneous and multielemental characterization o f heterogeneous solid samples using laser-induced breakdown spectrometry (L IBS) is presented. The basic idea relies on focusing the incident laser bea m with a cylindrical lens to produce a long and narrow microline plasma. Th e emitted light is then projected along the spectrograph slit, where each a blated location on the sample generates a signal at a defined height, and a cquired with a charge-coupled device (CCD) detector. The method has been te sted for compositional mapping of solar cells, enabling a 25-fold increase of analysis speed as compared to conventional LIES configuration.