Improvement of the sensitivity for the measurement of copper concentrations in soil by microwave-assisted laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

This study shows a 23-fold improvement of the sensitivity in the determination of copper in soil samples when using Microwave-Assisted Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (MA-LIBS) compared with our conventional LIBS. This comparison between MA-LIBS and LIBS was performed with identical ablation conditions and detection geometry. The signal enhancement obtained with MA-LIBS allowed for the detection of spectral lines related to concentration values as low as 30 mg kg− 1 for copper and 23.3 mg kg− 1 for silver, which were not detected by LIBS.

► Application of Microwave-assisted LIBS for the analysis of soil samples.
► Quantitation of the sensitivity improvement by MA-LIBS over LIBS for copper in soil.
► Extension of the range of the calibration by MA-LIBS over LIBS for copper in soil.