<unk>  <unk>  is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy which utilises a highly energetic<unk>  pulse as the excitation source.<unk>  can analyse any matter regardless of its physical state, be it solid, liquid or gas. Even slurries, aerosols, gels, and more can be readily investigated. Because all elements emit light when excited to sufficiently high temperatures,<unk>  can detect all elements, limited only by the power of the<unk>  as well as the sensitivity and wavelength range of the spectrograph & detector. Basically<unk>  makes use of optical emission spectrometry and is to this extent very similar to arc/spark emission spectroscopy.<unk>  operates by focusing the<unk>  onto a small area at the surface of the specimen; when the<unk>  is discharged it ablates a very small amount of material, in the range of nanograms to picograms, which instantaneously generates a plasma plume with temperatures of about 10,000–20,000 K. At these temperatures, the ablated material dissociates (breaks down) into excited ionic and atomic species. During this time, the plasma emits a continuum of radiation which does not contain any useful information about the species present, but within a very small timeframe the plasma expands at supersonic velocities and cools.   At this point the characteristic atomic emission lines of the elements can be observed. The delay between the emission of continuum radiation and characteristic radiation is in the order of 10 µs, this is why it is necessary to temporally gate the detector.<unk>  can often be referred to as its alternative name:<unk><unk>  plasma spectroscopy (LIPS). Unfortunately the term LIPS has alternative meanings that are outside the field of analytical spectroscopy, therefore the term<unk>  is preferred.<unk>  is technically very similar to a number of other<unk> -based analytical techniques, sharing much of the same hardware. These techniques are the vibrational spectroscopic technique of Raman spectroscopy, and the fluorescence spectroscopic technique of<unk><unk>  fluorescence (LIF). In fact devices are now being manufactured which combine these techniques in a single instrument, allowing the atomic, molecular and structural characterisation of a specimen as well as giving a deeper insight into physical properties.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Förster resonance energy transfer
Surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization
Spectrophotometry
Fourier transform spectroscopy
Near infrared spectroscopy
Biological small-angle X-ray scattering
Native PAGE