CMEI will incorporate laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technology into its products. LIBS uses a laser to vaporize a tiny spot of material on the object being studied. Analysis of the light produced by the vaporized material reveals the chemical and elemental makeup of the object.
"LIBS has great advantages for doing rapid analyses in the field," said CMEI's Chuck Mansfield. "We plan to market a tool that the mining industry can use to assay ores quickly or that environmental scientists and regulators can use to look for various contaminants."
CMEI is developing its LIBS-based products in cooperation with ICF Kaiser, which acquired the licensing rights from the Laboratory.
"We applaud ICF Kaiser for its willingness to support new economic ventures in the region," said Charryl Berger, director of Los Alamos' Civilian Industrial Technologies Programs. "This is exactly the sort of community-minded participation that we look for from our subcontractors."
The technology underlying LIBS has been around since 1961, but Los Alamos researchers David Cremers, Monty Ferris and others have made significant advances to the technology. In 1996 they, along with engineers from ICF Kaiser and others, received an R&D 100 award for a mobile LIBS unit that could perform field screenings for selected contaminants, such as lead, beryllium or barium.
In 1993, in a successful demonstration at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a Los Alamos LIBS unit was mounted on a Russian-built robotic rover to show it could be operated remotely, making it a potential candidate for future planetary explorations.
LIBS technology can conduct accurate evaluations from as many as 80 feet away from an object.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.