Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a technique that gives elemental analysis of materials in a similar way to XRF, but it does this micro-destructively, using a laser to ablate a small portion of the material being analysed. This can be very useful for analysing different layers, such as when overpainting is suspected. The high intensity laser beam can be focused to a spot size of less than 1mm.

The emission spectra collected from the ablated material can provide sensitive measurements of most elements, allowing the remote elemental analysis of monuments and objects from distances up to tens of metres. It is especially suited to applications on architectural and archaeological sites where the need for analysis of inaccessible positions on a structure is prevalent. The elemental analysis provides complementary information to remote Raman/LIF and remote reflectance spectral imaging. By controlling the pulse energy, the elemental composition can be identified layer by layer by applying multiple pulses. The in-house developed LIBS system can operate at remote stand-off distances up to 15m.