Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy measurement under low pressure simulating vacuum conditions

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a very useful elemental analysis tool in planetary exploration. In this study we conduct LIBS measurements under low pressure (1x10 mbar) to investigate the feasibility of LIBS measurement under vacuum conditions. Although the optical emission intensity decreases remarkably under low ambient pressure, our preliminary experimental results indicate that the precision of elemental abundance measurements does not decrease drastically even under 1x10 mbar. This suggests that LIBS can be used at the surface of airless bodies, such as the Moon and asteroids.