LIBS Spectra of Elements
This page shows experimental LIBS spectra of many elements in the periodic table. Click a link on the element list or scroll down to the element you want to see. The experimental data comes either from pure element measurements or a reference material with well known constituents. For the experimental measurement setups, see photos below and Experimental setup page for details. Spectra from different sources are marked with different color graphs. Theoretical spectra are given for some elements we don't have a good experimental measurement for.
Datas
To download the datasets for your own use, see LIBS datasets.
For LIBS spectra of minerals and other materials, see LIBS spectra of Minerals .
Other good elemental LIBS databases are AromTrace elements database and NIST LIBS Database.
Theoretical spectra
The theoretical spectra are built with data from NIST Kramida, A., Ralchenko, Yu., Reader, J. and NIST ASD Team (2023). NIST Atomic Spectra Database (version 5.11), [Online]. Available: https://physics.nist.gov/asd. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18434/T4W30F Atomic Spectra Database ASD NIST ASD and the equations and algorithms described at Understanding LIBS spectrum page.
Elemental spectra
On the experimental spectra we show here both the mean spectrum of good measurements and 90%-quantile calculated over multiple measurement spectra. I prefer the 90%-quantile presentation in most cases for better spotting of weak peaks, but they are less realistic and can overexaggerate peaks from impurities. Download the dataset to access the real measurements LIBS datasets.
1 H Hydrogen, 2 He Helium, 3 Li Lithium, 4 Be Beryllium, 5 B Boron, 6 C Carbon, 7 N Nitrogen, 8 O Oxygen, 9 F Fluorine, 10 Ne Neon, 11 Na Sodium, 12 Mg Magnesium, 13 Al Aluminium, 14 Si Silicon, 15 P Phosphorus, 16 S Sulphur, 17 Cl Chlorine, 18 Ar Argon, 19 K Potassium, 20 Ca Calcium, 21 Sc Scandium, 22 Ti Titanium, 23 V Vanadium, 24 Cr Chromium, 25 Mn Manganese, 26 Fe Iron, 27 Co Cobalt, 28 Ni Nickel, 29 Cu Copper, 30 Zn Zinc, 31 Ga Gallium, 32 Ge Germanium, 33 As Arsenic, 34 Se Selenium, 35 Br Bromine, 36 Kr Krypton, 37 Rb Rubidium, 38 Sr Strontium, 39 Y Yttrium, 40 Zr Zirconium, 41 Nb Niobium, 42 Mo Molybdenum, 43 Tc Technetium, 44 Ru Ruthenium, 45 Rh Rhodium, 46 Pd Palladium, 47 Ag Silver, 48 Cd Cadmium, 49 In Indium, 50 Sn Tin, 51 Sb Antimony, 52 Te Tellurium, 53 I Iodine, 54 Xe Xenon, 55 Cs Caesium, 56 Ba Barium, 57 La Lanthanum, 58 Ce Cerium, 59 Pr Praseodymium, 60 Nd Neodymium, 61 Pm Promethium, 62 Sm Samarium, 63 Eu Europium, 64 Gd Gadolinium, 65 Tb Terbium, 66 Dy Dysprosium, 67 Ho Holmium, 68 Er Erbium, 69 Tm Thulium, 70 Yb Ytterbium, 71 Lu Lutetium, 72 Hf Hafnium, 73 Ta Tantalum, 74 W Tungsten, 75 Re Rhenium, 76 Os Osmium, 77 Ir Iridium, 78 Pt Platinum, 79 Au Gold, 80 Hg Mercury, 81 Tl Thallium, 82 Pb Lead, 83 Bi Bismuth, 84 Po Polonium, 85 At Astatine, 86 Rn Radon, 87 Fr Francium, 88 Ra Radium, 89 Ac Actinium, 90 Th Thorium, 91 Pa Protactinium, 92 U Uranium, 93 Np Neptunium, 94 Pu Plutonium, 95 Am Americium, 96 Cm Curium, 97 Bk Berkelium, 98 Cf Californium, 99 Es Einsteinium, 100 Fm Fermium, 101 Md Mendelevium, 102 No Nobelium, 103 Lr Lawrencium, 104 Rf Rutherfordium, 105 Db Dubnium, 106 Sg Seaborgium, 107 Bh Bohrium, 108 Hs Hassium, 109 Mt Meitnerium, 110 Ds Darmstadtium, 111 Rg Roentgenium, 112 Cn Copernicium, 113 Nh Nihonium, 114 Fl Flerovium, 115 Mc Moscovium, 116 Lv Livermorium, 117 Ts Tennessine, 118 Og Oganesson
Note: Click on a plot to open interactive version!
1 H Hydrogen
2 He Helium
3 Li Lithium
4 Be Beryllium
5 B Boron
6 C Carbon
Carbon has C2 and CN molecular peaks visible here
7 N Nitrogen
8 O Oxygen
9 F Fluorine
10 Ne Neon
11 Na Sodium
12 Mg Magnesium
13 Al Aluminium
Two samples for aluminium Aluminium sample 1 out of 2. 
Aluminium sample 2 out of 2. There are small molecular AlO vibrations peaks visible around 480-520nm. 
14 Si Silicon
15 P Phosphorus
16 S Sulphur
17 Cl Chlorine
18 Ar Argon
19 K Potassium
20 Ca Calcium
21 Sc Scandium
22 Ti Titanium
UV side(200-443nm) spectrometer was out of focus during measurement so the spectrum isn't good. Many peaks are still visible after rescaling. 
23 V Vanadium
24 Cr Chromium
25 Mn Manganese
26 Fe Iron
27 Co Cobalt
28 Ni Nickel
29 Cu Copper
30 Zn Zinc
31 Ga Gallium
32 Ge Germanium
33 As Arsenic
34 Se Selenium
35 Br Bromine
36 Kr Krypton
37 Rb Rubidium
38 Sr Strontium
39 Y Yttrium
Check separate REE page. 
40 Zr Zirconium
41 Nb Niobium
42 Mo Molybdenum
43 Tc Technetium
44 Ru Ruthenium
45 Rh Rhodium
46 Pd Palladium
47 Ag Silver
48 Cd Cadmium
49 In Indium
50 Sn Tin
51 Sb Antimony
52 Te Tellurium
53 I Iodine
54 Xe Xenon
55 Cs Caesium
56 Ba Barium
57 La Lanthanum
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
58 Ce Cerium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
59 Pr Praseodymium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
60 Nd Neodymium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
61 Pm Promethium
62 Sm Samarium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
63 Eu Europium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
64 Gd Gadolinium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
65 Tb Terbium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
66 Dy Dysprosium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
67 Ho Holmium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
68 Er Erbium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
69 Tm Thulium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
70 Yb Ytterbium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
71 Lu Lutetium
Note: spectrum extracted from a glass melt i.e. this is not pure element measurement. Check separate REE page. 
72 Hf Hafnium
73 Ta Tantalum
74 W Tungsten
75 Re Rhenium
76 Os Osmium
77 Ir Iridium
78 Pt Platinum
79 Au Gold
80 Hg Mercury
81 Tl Thallium
82 Pb Lead
83 Bi Bismuth
84 Po Polonium
85 At Astatine
86 Rn Radon
87 Fr Francium
88 Ra Radium
89 Ac Actinium
90 Th Thorium
91 Pa Protactinium
92 U Uranium
With U we got only a small number of somewhat successful measurements so this spectrum is not as good quality and the image here is 99%-percentile quantile to make peaks visible. 