Portable spectroscopic analysis assembly
Portable spectroscopic analysis assemblies are disclosed. In an example, an apparatus comprises an analysis subassembly, a probe subassembly, a tether subassembly interconnecting the analysis subassembly and the probe subassembly, and a laser source. The analysis subassembly comprises a spectroscopy subassembly. The laser source is configured to generate an excitation laser signal. The probe subassembly is configured to transmit the excitation laser signal to a sample and to receive an optical response signal from the sample, and the tether subassembly is configured to convey the optical response signal to the spectroscopy subassembly. The apparatus is operative to perform each of a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis and a Raman spectroscopy analysis of the optical response signal to at least partially characterize a composition of the sample.
1 . An apparatus comprising:
an analysis subassembly comprising a spectroscopy subassembly;
a probe subassembly comprising an optical probe, a probe subassembly housing supporting the optical probe, and a hood coupled to the probe subassembly housing;
a tether subassembly interconnecting the analysis subassembly and the probe subassembly; and
a laser source configured to generate an excitation laser signal,
wherein the optical probe is configured to transmit the excitation laser signal along a probe axis, wherein the hood extends along a direction parallel to the probe axis and is configured to shield the optical probe from ambient light, wherein the hood is configured to translate relative to the probe subassembly housing along a direction at least substantially parallel to the probe axis to transition between a disengaged configuration and an engaged configuration, wherein the probe subassembly is configured to transmit the excitation laser signal to a sample and to receive an optical response signal from the sample, wherein the probe subassembly is operative to transmit the excitation laser signal when the hood is in the engaged configuration and is prevented from transmitting the excitation laser signal when the hood is in the disengaged configuration, and wherein the analysis subassembly is operative to perform each of a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis and a Raman spectroscopy analysis of the optical response signal to at least partially characterize a composition of the sample.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the laser source is configured to generate the excitation laser signal as a pulsed laser signal for one or both of the LIBS analysis and the Raman spectroscopy analysis.
3 . An apparatus comprising:
an analysis subassembly comprising a spectroscopy subassembly and an analysis subassembly housing supporting the spectroscopy subassembly;
a probe subassembly comprising an optical probe, a probe subassembly housing supporting the optical probe, and a hood coupled to the probe subassembly housing and configured to shield the optical probe from ambient light;
a tether subassembly interconnecting the analysis subassembly and the probe subassembly; and
a laser source configured to generate an excitation laser signal,
wherein the probe subassembly is configured to transmit the excitation laser signal to a sample and to receive an optical response signal from the sample, wherein the tether subassembly is configured to convey the optical response signal to the spectroscopy subassembly, wherein the apparatus is configured to operate in each of:
a LIBS mode, in which the spectroscopy subassembly is operative to perform a LIBS analysis of the optical response signal; and
a Raman spectroscopy mode, in which the spectroscopy subassembly is operative to perform a Raman spectroscopy analysis of the optical response signal,
wherein the hood is configured to translate relative to the probe subassembly housing to transition between a disengaged configuration and an engaged configuration, and wherein the hood is biased toward the disengaged configuration.
4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein, when the apparatus operates in the Raman spectroscopy mode, the excitation laser signal is a pulsed laser signal.
5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the analysis subassembly is configured to be carried by a human operator, wherein the probe subassembly is configured to be handheld by the human operator, and wherein the analysis subassembly has a total mass that is less than approximately 20 kilograms (kg).
6 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the tether subassembly is configured to be selectively removed from and reattached to one or both of the analysis subassembly and the probe subassembly.
7 . The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising an optical switch configured to selectively produce the excitation laser signal with a first characteristic wavelength or with a second characteristic wavelength that is different than the first characteristic wavelength, wherein, when the apparatus operates in the LIBS mode, the optical switch produces the excitation laser signal with the first characteristic wavelength, and wherein, when the apparatus operates in the Raman spectroscopy mode, the optical switch produces the excitation laser signal with the second characteristic wavelength.
8 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the laser source comprises an Nd:YAG laser.
9 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the optical probe is configured to transmit the excitation laser signal along a probe axis, wherein the hood extends along a direction parallel to the probe axis.
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the hood is configured to translate relative to the probe subassembly housing along a direction at least substantially parallel to the probe axis to transition between the disengaged configuration and the engaged configuration, and wherein the probe subassembly is operative to transmit the excitation laser signal only when the hood is in the engaged configuration.
11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the probe subassembly comprises a lockout mechanism configured to enable transmission of the excitation laser signal only when the hood is in the engaged configuration.
12 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the spectroscopy subassembly comprises a plurality of spectrometer units, wherein each spectrometer unit comprises a spectrometer and a sensor unit, and wherein each spectrometer unit is configured to:
(i) analyze a respective analyzed portion of the optical response signal that comprises wavelengths within a respective spectroscopic bandwidth of the spectrometer unit; and
(ii) generate a respective spectroscopy signal that represents a spectral content of the optical response signal within the respective spectroscopic bandwidth.
13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein, for each spectrometer unit of the plurality of spectrometer units, the spectrometer is a transmission spectrometer.
14 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein, for each spectrometer unit of the plurality of spectrometer units, the sensor unit comprises:
an image intensifier configured to amplify the analyzed portion of the optical response signal to produce an amplified optical signal; and
an image sensor configured to receive the amplified optical signal and to generate the spectroscopy signal.
15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the excitation laser signal is a pulsed laser signal, and wherein the image intensifier is synchronized with the laser source such that the amplified optical signal is a gated amplified signal that is temporally correlated with the excitation laser signal.
16 . The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising a control subassembly at least partially enclosed within the analysis subassembly housing and configured to at least partially control operation of one or both of the spectroscopy subassembly and the laser source.
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the control subassembly comprises a controller programmed to receive a spectroscopy signal from the spectroscopy subassembly and to perform one or both of the LIBS analysis and the Raman spectroscopy analysis on the spectroscopy signal to generate an analysis signal that represents one or both of a chemical composition of the sample and a mineralogy of the sample.
18 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the control subassembly comprises a communications interface configured to convey an analysis signal to an external device, wherein the analysis signal represents one or both of a chemical composition of the sample and a mineralogy of the sample.
19 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the tether subassembly comprises one or more connection lines and a tether subassembly housing supporting the one or more connection lines.
20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the one or more connection lines comprises one or more optical fibers configured to convey optical signals between the analysis subassembly and the probe subassembly.
21 . An apparatus comprising:
an analysis subassembly comprising a spectroscopy subassembly and an analysis subassembly housing supporting the spectroscopy subassembly;
a probe subassembly comprising an optical probe and a probe subassembly housing supporting the optical probe;
a tether subassembly interconnecting the analysis subassembly and the probe subassembly; and
a laser source configured to generate an excitation laser signal,
wherein the probe subassembly is configured to transmit the excitation laser signal to a sample and to receive an optical response signal from the sample, wherein the tether subassembly is configured to convey the optical response signal to the spectroscopy subassembly, wherein the apparatus is configured to operate in each of:
a LIBS mode, in which the spectroscopy subassembly is operative to perform a LIBS analysis of the optical response signal; and
a Raman spectroscopy mode, in which the spectroscopy subassembly is operative to perform a Raman spectroscopy analysis of the optical response signal,
wherein the spectroscopy subassembly comprises a plurality of spectrometer units, wherein each spectrometer unit comprises a spectrometer and a sensor unit, and wherein each spectrometer unit is configured to:
(i) analyze a respective analyzed portion of the optical response signal that comprises wavelengths within a respective spectroscopic bandwidth of the spectrometer unit; and
(ii) generate a respective spectroscopy signal that represents a spectral content of the optical response signal within the respective spectroscopic bandwidth, and
wherein, for each spectrometer unit of the plurality of spectrometer units, the sensor unit comprises:
an image intensifier configured to amplify the analyzed portion of the optical response signal to produce an amplified optical signal; and
an image sensor configured to receive the amplified optical signal and to generate the spectroscopy signal.