HR: 0830h
AN: P21B-0051    [PDF]
TI: Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for the Analysis of Water Ice and Water Ice/Soil Mixtures
AU: Arp, Z
EM: zaa@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, NMT-15, MS J565, Los Alamos, NM 87545
AU: Cremers, D A
EM: cremers_david@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chemistry Division, MS J565, Los Alamos, NM 87545
AU: * Wiens, R C
EM: rwiens@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Space and Atmospheric Sciences, MS D466, Los Alamos, NM 87545
AB: The elemental analysis method of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is being developed for the stand-off analysis of geological samples for eventual use on robotic landers and rovers on the Martian surface. There is also interest in the ability of LIBS to analyze water ice and ice/soil mixtures. The stratified layers of ice and soil believed to exist in the polar layered deposits represent an archive of the past geologic history of the planet. In addition, the ices may contain remnants of past life, if any, on Mars. LIBS promises to be a very powerful analytical technique for these studies due to its ability to analyze samples at stand-off distances up to 20 m with only optical access to the sample required. In addition, a LIBS measurement can be carried out rapidly ($<$ 2 minutes) and the method has good detection sensitivity for many elements of interest (1-500 ppm). Here the main results of a study to characterize LIBS for the analysis of water ice and water ice/soil mixtures in a simulated Mars atmosphere (7 Torr CO$_{2}$) are presented. Topics to be addressed include (1) the spectrum of water ice and ice/soil mixtures, (2) the effect of water ice concentration on the soil spectrum, (3) detection limits for selected elements in ice/soil mixtures, and (4) the ability to analyze ice samples at distances up to 6.5 m. In addition, the ability to ablate through a thick ice layer (16 mm) while recording LIBS spectra will be described.
UR: http://libs.lanl.gov
DE: 1094 Instruments and techniques
DE: 5410 Composition
DE: 5462 Polar regions
DE: 5494 Instruments and techniques
DE: 6225 Mars
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting