A comparative study of nanoparticle-enhanced laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Abstract

Nanoparticle-Enhanced Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (NELIBS) has gained much attention due to its capability of improving spectral intensity and detection sensitivity. However, there is no clear picture of the technology. For example, the enhancement ratios in existing studies were found to be from less than 5 to higher than 100 times, which need more clarification regarding the condition dependence of the enhancement ratio. Also, most of the previous studies were focused on enhancement effects and experimental optimization of NELIBS, leaving other aspects such as repeatability almost blank. In this study, we summarized the available results and made supplementary experiments to make an overall comparison. Special attention was paid to the effect of pre-ablation as well as the signal repeatability of NELIBS. In summary, this study comprehensively evaluated the merits and demerits of NELIBS, thereby providing a more overall understanding of NELIBS.