Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) finds more and more applications in trace element detection and in process monitoring due to its rapidity, its non-contact optical nature, and its non need of sample preparation. The capacity of LIBS for quantitative elemental analysis has been demonstrated in numerous fields: metallurgy, mining, environment, art conservation, pharmacy, etc. The laboratory has developed this technique to detect trace elements and discriminate bacteria with a transportable device and a user-friendly software.

LIBS allows to analyze constituents (atoms/ molecules) of solid materials, powders, gas, liquids or even aerosols. Native molecular species of organic and biological samples can also be detected and identified.

The laboratory is able to detect trace elements in various samples of a contaminated area (water, soil, vegetation) and in fresh vegetables. Its know-how is also renowned for discrimination of bacteria using LIBS and for time-resolved shadowgraph for the study of early expansion of the plasma. Efficient plasma optical emission is collected without chromatism (patent deposited). Moreover, the laboratory has developed a user- friendly software that allows automatic pick detection and designation, statistics and time evolution of the spectra, electron density and plasma temperature calculation (artificial neural network).