Handheld Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (hLIBS), an alternative technique for chemical classification of iron meteorites_Congresso congiunto SIMP-SGI 2025 - Geosciences and the Challenges of the 21st Century

The bulk characterization and classification of iron meteorites mostly rely on their elemental composition data acquired by ICP-MS, INAA and RNAA or laser ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS). Portable/handheld field instruments allow dynamic sampling, thus encouraging field geologists to expand their investigation and map areas where anomalies are observed, avoiding to depend on laboratory data. In this work, a handheld laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (hLIBS) instrument has been used to identify the qualitative and quantitative composition of a suite of iron meteorite samples representative of different chemical and structural classes by analyzing the spectra released from the plasma formed by the laser impact.