On-The-Flight trapping, LIBS analysis and discrimination of single meteorite particles generated by laser ablation.

Background: Thousands of micrometeorites fall to the Earth on a daily basis. Most of these meteorites have a rocky composition, but others are mainly composed of iron and nickel. Due to their small size, often ca.

Discriminating organic carbon from endokarstic moonmilk-type deposits by LIBS. The case of a natural carbonated Martian analogue.

Moonmilk-type deposits exemplify carbonated Martian analogues existing in the subsurface of Earth, an endokarstic speleothem with a possible biochemical origin composed principally by carbonates, mainly huntite and dolomite. In this work, samples of moonmilk located in Nerja Cave (southern Spain) have been studied by LIBS with the aim of identifying carbon of biogenic origin by establishing a relationship between a molecular emission indicator, CN signal, and the organic carbon content. The characterization of this kind of carbonate deposit with a multiple mineralogical composition has been completed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction techniques for qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis.

Remote Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy of Bacterial Growths in Carbonate Rocks in a Mars-like Atmosphere.

Understanding the past habitable environments of Mars increases the requirement to recognize and examine modern analogs and to evaluate the mechanisms that may preserve biosignatures in them. The phenomenon that originates and preserves possible microbial biosignatures in mineral phases is of particular interest in astrobiology. On Earth, the precipitation of carbonate matrices can be mediated by bacteria.

Ultrafast Laser Excitation Improves LIBS Performance for the Analysis of Optically Trapped Single Nanoparticles Owing to Characteristic Interaction Mechanisms.

Owing to the exceedingly small mass involved, complete elemental characterization of single nanoparticles demands a highly precise control of signal background and noise sources. LIBS has demonstrated remarkable merits for this task, providing a unique tool for the multielemental analysis of particles on the attogram-picogram mass scale. Despite this outstanding sensitivity, the air plasma acting as a heat source for particle dissociation and excitation is a meddling agent, often limiting the acquisition of an accurate sample signature.