Determining key isotopic ratios in the field (original) (raw)

NASA Tech Briefs; www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/15174, 2012

Abstract

ABSTRACT A new elegant technology was born and branded as Laser Ablation Molecular Isotopic Spectrometry (LAMIS). LAMIS shares all the same technical benefits of its predecessor Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), including rapid analysis and the elimination of sample preparation. LIBS measures atomic emission spectra during the first microsecond after an ablation pulse. LAMIS measurement follows later when the plasma cools down. Then molecules form in the plasma and the intensity of molecular spectra increases and persists for some while. Molecular spectra are useful for isotopic analysis because the isotopic shifts in molecular emission are significantly larger than in atomic spectra. There is no need for a large high-resolution spectrometer; a compact spectrometer can resolve isotopic spectra. LIBS and LAMIS techniques can be accomplished on the same instrument, thus extending ChemCam with a new dimension of isotopic analysis. ChemCam is a scientific instruments on board of the automatic Mars Science Laboratory rover “Curiosity.”

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