A review of the current analytical approaches for evaluating, compensating and exploiting self-absorption in Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

• Published in: Spectrochimica acta. Part B: Atomic spectroscopy Vol. 169; p. 105878
• Main Authors: Rezaei, Fatemeh, Cristoforetti, Gabriele, Tognoni, Elisabetta, Legnaioli, Stefano, Palleschi, Vincenzo, Safi, Ali
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier B.V 01.07.2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Absorption; Accuracy; Analytical methods; Emission analysis; Exploitation; Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy; Lasers; LIBS; Mathematical analysis; Profiles; Quantitative analysis; Self-absorption; Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Self-absorption; Spectroscopy; LIBS; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0584-8547; 1873-3565
• DOI: 10.1016/j.sab.2020.105878

In this paper a review of different approaches for handling the self-absorption effect in Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) applications is presented. From an analytical point of view, self-absorption is a major issue affecting the accuracy of LIBS quantitative analysis. Self-absorption impacts emission line profiles and intensities, resulting in non-linear calibration curves and influencing the estimation of the sample composition. The main purpose of this work is presenting a summary of the experimental parameters giving raise to self-absorption and a thorough study of the different strategies for its estimation, compensation and exploitation in order to improve the analytical accuracy of the LIBS technique. [Display omitted] •some approaches to estimate the self-absorption degree of spectral lines are reviewed,•the effects of the experimental parameters in LIBS plasmas are discussed,•we review exploitation of self-absorbed lines for diagnostics or quantitative analysis.