Issue 4, 2023

A confocal-controlled Raman-LIBS hybrid microscope with high stability and spatial resolution

Abstract

Probing elemental and molecular structural information with a high spatial resolution is a key bottleneck in determining unknown minerals in the fields of geology and space exploration. An untraditional confocal-controlled Raman-LIBS hybrid method with high spatial resolution and anti-drift properties has been developed to overcome this challenge. The method is the first to combine Rayleigh/reflected light, LIBS signal, and Raman spectrum to simultaneously measure geometrical topography and elemental and molecular structural information. The hybrid system utilizes real-time focus tracking the performance of Rayleigh/reflected light to achieve accurate spectral measurements. The axial-focusing resolution and lateral resolution for morphological imaging are improved to ∼15 nm and 600 nm, which improves the anti-drift capability and minimizes the laser ablation size, thereby achieving a high transverse resolution of ∼9 μm, and a high axial resolution of ∼10 μm. As a proof of concept, high-resolution topological and hybrid spectral maps of the Northwest Africa 13323 meteorite have been measured. The fusion of the LIBS and Raman data provides a detailed three-dimensional map of the elementary and compositional distributions of the meteorite. Further analysis of the D and G bands in the Raman map reveals structural information reflecting the thermal metamorphism of the meteorite. The proposed Raman-LIBS hybrid microscope provides valuable information for composition and structure analysis, and it is a powerful tool for studying unknown minerals in the fields of geology and space exploration.

Graphical abstract: A confocal-controlled Raman-LIBS hybrid microscope with high stability and spatial resolution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 nov 2022
Accepted
27 jan 2023
First published
31 jan 2023

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2023,38, 792-799

A confocal-controlled Raman-LIBS hybrid microscope with high stability and spatial resolution

W. Zhao, C. He, A. Li, L. Qiu and K. Xu, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2023, 38, 792 DOI: 10.1039/D2JA00360K

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