Megan L'Heureux

* This article was first published on our sister brand Cannabis Science and Technology website as a preview to the Cannabis Science Conference (CSC) Fall 2023. Read more about CSC 2023

Cannabis Science Conference (CSC) Fall will be taking place in Providence, Rhode Island September 20–22nd. CSC Fall features several exciting tracks: analytical science, cultivation, medical cannabis, and psychedelics. With expert speakers coming in from around the country, we thought it was a great opportunity to introduce some of them and get a sneak peek into their presentations. Let’s meet Autumn Phillips, a Research Chemist and Chemical Hygiene Officer at Inorganic Ventures. She received two bachelor’s degrees from Virginia Tech in Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2016. Autumn has worked at Inorganic Ventures for seven years and her experience includes techniques in ICP-OES, ICP-MS, and ion chromatography analysis, as well as complex sample digestions and purifications. Autumn will be co-presenting with Dr. Sergei Leikin in the analytical track at the upcoming Cannabis Science Conference Fall with a talk titled “Analysis of Cannabis Products for Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury, and Lead by ICP-OES: Meeting the DL Challenge” which is taking place September 21st in Providence, Rhode Island. Here, she shares a little about her science background and how he got involved cannabis testing as well as a preview of what to expect from her exciting talk!

Can you tell us about your background and how you got involved with cannabis testing?

: Yes, I'm currently a research chemist at Inorganic Ventures, which is a certified reference materials provider in Christiansburg, Virginia. I started out with the company right after I graduated from Virginia Tech in 2016. I received a dual bachelor's degree in chemistry and biochemistry and then I started here in August right after my graduation that spring. My first four years were spent in the manufacturing department where I was performing different reactions and purifications. Our main goal is to achieve the highest quality and highest purity products, so that was what I was working on my first four years here. After that I spent about a year as a technical support chemist. In that role, I was helping customers with troubleshooting issues in their labs and improving their processes—things of that nature. Then for about two years now I've been in the R&D department. We work on a lot of projects for developing new products and different method developments as well as improving our in-house processes.

I first got involved with cannabis testing when Dr. Sergei Leikin from Texas Scientific Products reached out to us about partnering on developing a method for ICP-OES testing of cannabis. We were looking for heavy metals in cannabis products and I was really excited to get to partner with them on that. That was kind of my first introduction to cannabis testing and I've definitely learned a lot along the way, so I'm excited to see where that takes me.

What are you most looking forward to at the Cannabis Science Conference Fall 2023?

: I'm really looking forward to just meeting and talking with other scientists and professionals in this industry. I've been to a couple of the Cannabis Science Conferences the last couple of years and I've always learned a lot from hearing such a diversity of different voices and different professions. I'm really looking forward to just learning from everyone.

Can you give us a preview of what you’ll be discussing in your talk?

: Yes, we'll be going over the method that we developed for analyzing heavy metals and in cannabis products using ICP-OES instrumentation. We used a couple of different ICP-OES instruments, so we’ll discuss some of the different challenges of using one versus the other and just general challenges that we ran into that we can help other analysts overcome when they undergo their analysis.

Stay tuned for more with Autumn Phillips with our live video conference coverage taking place September 21-22, 2023 or join us in person to hear Autumn and Sergei’s presentation and many others at the Cannabis Science Conference Fall in Providence, RI. Register today with code SUMMER40 to save 40%:

Articles

One of the Cannabis Science Conference (CSC) Fall speakers is Autumn Phillips, who works as a Research Chemist and Chemical Hygiene Officer at Inorganic Ventures. She shares more about her background in cannabis science in this conference preview.

Previewing the Cannabis Science Conferece: Autumn Phillips Discusses Cannabis Testing for Heavy Metals with ICP-OES 

Russ Algar, an assistant professor in chemistry at the University of British Columbia (UBC), in Vancouver, Canada, has won the 2017 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy Award, which is presented by 

 magazine. This annual award recognizes the achievements and aspirations of a talented young molecular spectroscopist, selected by an independent scientific committee. The award will be presented to Algar at the SciX 2017 conference in October, where he will give a plenary lecture and be honored in an award symposium, both on Monday, October 9.

	Imagine your doctor taking out a cell phone one day and using the camera to diagnose an illness or to run a series of tests that lead to a more accurate result than current technology allows. If those dreams of “personalized medicine” become a reality one day, it will be in part, thanks to the research that Russ Algar, an assistant professor in chemistry at the University of British Columbia (UBC), in Vancouver, Canada, has been doing. In many respects, Algar is leading the charge to combine analytical chemistry and personalized medicine by developing smartphone-based point-of-care diagnostics in which photoluminescence from semiconductor quantum dot (QD) nanocrystals is measured by a smartphone camera. He is also working on fluorescence assays that target protein biomarkers and cell types, and QD-based concentric Förster resonance energy transfer (cFRET) probes with multifunctional detection capabilities. 

	This article highlights the work Algar has accomplished so far and his future research plans, and shares some insights into Algar and his work from friends and colleagues. 

The Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy award recognizes the achievements and aspirations of a talented young molecular spectroscopist. Algar was highly recommended for the 2017 award by Chris Orvig, a professor of chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences and director of the Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry Group at UBC. Orvig explained that Algar was hired at UBC to strengthen their analytical division with spectroscopy expertise, and he truly excelled in that endeavor. “He is a stellar candidate for this new young researcher award and I am delighted to recommend him in the strongest possible terms,” said Orvig.

	Denis Boudreau, a professor at the Université Laval, calls Algar “a rising star” on the Canadian academic scene. “The development of novel spectroscopy tools and materials for chemical analysis is an important research field with potentially major impacts in the analytical chemistry and biotechnology sectors,” said Boudreau. “Professor Algar is already one of the most prominent and promising young actors in this field.”

	Algar has certainly achieved a great deal in his short career. He received his PhD in 2010 (from the University of Toronto, under Ulrich J. Krull), and has been an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia since 2012. In that short time, he has published more than 75 manuscripts and several book chapters with more than 3000 citations according to the ISI Web of Science. He has also delivered more than 50 presentations at national and international conferences. In addition, Algar has been the recipient of several awards such as the Fred Beamish award (see photo on next page) and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 2017.

	Algar is also active in the broader scientific community through his work with various conferences, editorial advisory boards, and scientific societies. For example, this year Algar was the co-organizer for two Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) symposia. Algar is also a member-at-large on the CSC Analytical Chemistry Division and a member on the board of directors for the Chemical Education Fund-among others. 

	Given his body of work, it’s easy to see why Algar was nominated for our award. But how did he first become interested in analytical chemistry and molecular spectroscopy? Algar said his broad interest in analytical chemistry evolved naturally as part of his undergraduate studies and the way his mind works. He also cited the diversity that can be found in analytical chemistry and molecular spectroscopy as something that attracted him to those fields. “Analytical chemistry and molecular spectroscopy embrace technology, enable new fundamental discoveries about how nature works, strive to create practical inventions, and easily interface with other disciplines in chemistry, biology, physics, material science, and engineering,” he said. “I really like having such a wide range of space in which to work and explore.” 

	Exploration seems to be a passion for Algar, as he delves into new research areas with the excitement and thoroughness of an early adventurer. For Algar, an idea can open a whole new world of possibility. For example, his work creating fluorescence assays to target protein biomarkers and cell types was inspired by the concept of 

, which focuses on understanding and assessing pathologies at the level of molecular mechanisms and cellular processes rather than the systemic observations of classical medicine.

	For example, rather than looking at blood pressure, temperature, coughing, and other symptoms of disease, Algar explained, in molecular medicine, one would look at the levels of certain proteins, genes, and cell types. “Many people believe that molecular medicine is the key to earlier diagnosis of diseases and more effective interventions, resulting in better health,” he said. “An important concept within this context is personalized medicine, where medical interventions are tailored to the specific manifestation of a disease in an individual rather than the population average, and adjusted over time while monitoring the specific response of that individual to the intervention.” 

	These concepts are great in theory, but there is a measurement problem in making them a viable reality: Many measurements need to be made at multiple time points. “The model of having a doctor order tests and collect a sample, or having the patient go to a specialized laboratory, is not going to be sufficient,” he said. Instead, what’s needed is a model were nurses can do some tests at the hospital bedside, doctors can do some at their private practice, and patients can do some tests at home. “Smartphone-based assays for protein and cell biomarkers can potentially enable this new model,” he said.

	Smartphone-based assays also have the potential to address the discrepancy in health care provided to people in urban and rural communities. People in rural or remote communities often must travel far for medical care, and about half of the health care budget in one of Canada’s northern territories is dedicated to patient travel. “If molecular assays are available in the form of a smartphone assay, then they can be available in rural and remote communities without specialized labs,” Algar said. “This benefits both the patient and the health care budget.”

	But a smartphone assay is not a magic bullet, Algar is quick to point out. “The full solutions to health care challenges will have many moving parts,” he notes. “But the concept embodied by the smartphone assay is likely to be an important component.” 

	How exactly will smartphone-based assays work? Algar and his group’s initial research in this area focused on finding and characterizing the best materials for fluorescence-based assays with smartphones. They began focusing on QDs, which are much brighter than conventional fluorescent dyes, making their fluorescence easier to detect and translating into a more sensitive assay. It’s even possible, Algar explained, to use blue light filtered from the camera flash to excite measurable fluorescence from a QD. And the emission of QDs can be precisely tuned to match the built-in color filters of a smartphone camera (red-green-blue or RGB), to help improve sensitivity and facilitate the use of the different RGB color channels to detect different assay targets. “In short, the properties of a QD can make fluorescence measurements on a smartphone not only possible, but also practical,” he said “From this point, it is possible-at least in principle-to take any existing fluorescence-based assay with QDs and adapt it to a smartphone.” 

	Algar is also researching QD-based concentric Förster resonance energy transfer (cFRET) probes with multifunctional detection capabilities. A conventional FRET probe is monofunctional (that is, it detects one target) whereas a cFRET probe is multifunctional (that is, it detects multiple targets). The convention with FRET probes is to use 

 different targets, but his group wondered if they could use one color of QD to detect 

 different things. The answer they came up with was cFRET with 

 = 3 because most cellular processes occur as a cascade of multiple steps and often share molecular machinery with other processes,” he said. “With 

 = 3, a good number of critical steps in those cascades can be detected with a single QD and using a cFRET probe is likely to be more effective than using three separate FRET probes, although we still need to prove this point.”

	Algar’s cFRET research is currently moving from the test tube to a live biological system, in the form of cultured cells. “Our first big goal is to quantitatively track a multistep enzymatic cascade in single cells,” he said. “It’s exciting because we’re going to see if cFRET can enable the new insights and discoveries that we think it can.” 

	Algar and his group are also studying other novel materials and configurations for biosensing. Examples include luminescent lanthanide complexes (LLCs) and semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots), which may be useful materials for point-of-care diagnostics, cellular imaging, and biophotonic Boolean logic operators for rapid “yes or no” screening assays for multiple pathogens or disease states. Because Pdots are exceptionally bright, even more so per particle than QDs, Algar’s group is looking at how these materials can be used as an alternative to QDs in their point-of-care diagnostic research. But Pdots are less developed than QDs, so Algar’s group is developing new chemistries to help facilitate the applications they envision for Pdots in point-of-care diagnostics. “Our Pdot research is in the early stages, but it looks promising, and I think we will have some good results by the spring,” he said. 

	LLCs, are special, Algar says, because of their very long excited-state lifetimes, which permit time-gated measurements. 

 is the idea of having a flash of excitation light, then a delay of microseconds to milliseconds before measuring the luminescence; this approach helps suppress scattering and fluorescence from anything but the LLC. “In my opinion, the concept is well-established but under utilized, perhaps because LLCs have not typically been very bright,” he said. But some newer LLCs are brighter, and Algar’s group has been able to do some interesting spectroscopy with them, such as elucidating a “sweet spot” for time-gated FRET, which balances two competing factors-higher FRET efficiency and the concomitant reduction in LLC donor lifetime. “We’ve leveraged this idea to show some new twists on the design of high-contrast time-gated FRET probes, including photonic logic gates,” he says.

	Algar’s goal with the LLCs is to create some probes that can do “dirty work” in the sense of being robust enough to be added directly to a clinically relevant sample, such as serum or, even better, whole blood directly from a patient. In the case of photonic logic, Algar’s long-term aim is a probe or system of probes that can make an autonomous decision about the levels of multiple biomarkers and generate a binary “healthy/sick” output, where a “sick” output could be used as a decision point for further biomedical testing. In both cases, the goal is to design probes that may be complex, but are simple to use and provide simple readouts. 

	“Our research toward this concept is in its infancy,” Algar said. “We’re still learning how to design systems that can generate a single, clean, binary output while detecting multiple biomarker targets, in the context of different types of biomarkers.”

	Impact in the Field: Praise from Experts

	Algar’s peers in the scientific community have taken notice of his work. His friends and colleagues have described his personal character and work ethic in glowing terms such as honest, professional, altruistic, humble, hard-working, enthusiastic, relentlessly innovative, motivating, scholarly, and rigorous. What do they think is his greatest contribution to molecular spectroscopy so far?

	Igor L. Medintz, who is the U.S. Navy’s Senior Scientist for Biosensors and Biomaterials at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and was Algar’s post-doctoral advisor, believes that Algar’s work developing different biosensing modalities based on QDs and energy transfer can be considered seminal. In particular, he lauded Algar’s work with time-gated multiFRET sensing, concentric multiFRET around QDs with up to three different dye acceptors, and incorporating both FRET and electron transfer at the same time into a QD-based sensor. “As Algar has amply demonstrated, these sensors can detect multiple targets (multiplexing) or even directly monitor coupled biological processes such as enzyme activity while only requiring a single QD-based construct,” said Medintz. This capability, he notes, can considerably ease the required instrumentation and materials needed for such experimental formats. “Moreover, the data that they provide is essentially orthogonal, with almost no cross talk.”

	Niko Hildebrandt, a professor at the Université Paris-Sud, agreed that Algar’s work has significantly advanced the understanding and application of QDs for FRET. “In particular, his contributions to FRET-relays and concentric-FRET present outstanding advances for the molecular spectroscopy community,” he said.

	Boudreau, of Université Laval, said that Algar excels at tailoring QD emission to combine various colors for multiplex and FRET-based assays that respond selectively to the presence of certain biomolecules such as DNA strands, enzymes, and antibodies. “The multiple functionalities that Algar and his group are able to embed in these nano-constructs lower the requirements on the instruments needed to optically read the assays, as demonstrated by his ingenious work on smartphone-based optical readers,” he said. “In this field, he is one of the best-if not the best-on the planet.”

	Others, such as Jean-Francois Masson, a professor at the Université de Montréal, said it is difficult to pinpoint only one example of Algar’s work as his most impressive achievement, as there are many to choose from. Ultimately, he narrowed it down to Algar’s use of a cell phone for measuring kinetic reactions using fluorescence spectroscopy. “In particular, the use of the RGB channels of the cell phone camera for monitoring different reactions is clever,” he said. “It is also an outstanding example of multidisciplinary research, where nanomaterials, biochemistry, instrumentation, and software are combined in one working sensor. This is an example of high-quality analytical chemistry.”

	Charles Lucy, a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Alberta, focused on a different aspect of Algar’s contribution: his passion for teaching, and his innovative approach to it. 

	Medintz agreed. “Algar firmly believes in the societal role of professors and what they should continually strive for in terms of teaching, mentoring new scientists, and adding to the body of knowledge,” he said. 

	Algar himself said that his students’ theses and research projects are the best part of his job and the basis of his research program. “My students, post-doctoral fellows, and I work together on the research,” he said. “I think-and hope-that such a team approach provides a good training environment and maximizes productivity.” 

	Algar’s peers have also noted his drive for success. Algar’s PhD advisor, Ulrich Krull, of the University of Toronto, said it is rare to see anyone so driven to succeed on so many fronts. “Algar starts his day at 6 a.m. with an intense physical workout, then he brings enormous creativity to both his research and teaching, and contributes to his community in leadership roles,” he said. 

	Algar’s published work has also received praise. “I also really appreciate the thorough set of investigations that he has performed and published on, which essentially provide a series of how-to manuals for the interested user of these techniques,” said Medintz.

	Lucy mentioned two papers in particular, which Algar published as a graduate student, one of which involved the assembly of a modular fluorimeter (1). “In addition, last year he published 

 papers on a guided inquiry experiment where students built their own photometer, and another that demonstrates the color wheel using LEDs and indicator dyes,” said Lucy (2,3). 

	Hildebrandt recalled a story that illustrates what Algar brings to the field. Hildebrandt has been a collaborator with Medintz’s lab for a long time and he always wanted to perform double-step FRET experiments in his own lab, but it never panned out. When Algar joined Medintz’s lab, within only a few months he had set up all the experiments and successfully performed very complicated double-step temporal and spectral resolution FRET for multiplexed biosensing. “In other words, Russ is someone who can do highly sophisticated research in a few months, for which others would take years, and he obtained excellent results that resulted in a joint publication in the 

	So, what does the future hold for this bright, young scientist? 

	In Masson’s view, the answer to this question depends on a combination of Algar’s goals and the opportunities that arise. “Our careers are not predefined and an event can easily trigger changes in our path, whether it is toward a new research field, a different institution, or being involved in administrative duties,” he said. “However, there is one variable that is sure: Algar has a tremendous potential to contribute at all levels in our community.”  

	Others felt more confident in predicting some future outcomes for Algar. “Without a doubt, he is already a major player in the discipline of analytical chemistry and bioanalytical chemistry,” said Boudreau. “I see him becoming an influential leader and a role model in Canadian academia, not only in research and bioanalysis but also for education and public outreach.”

	Krull agrees that Algar will continue to be recognized as a creative leader, specifically in nanoparticle technologies. “I anticipate that he will help move these technologies from research to the bedside for medical and clinical applications, he said.

	From his work with QDs and cFRET to the newer research with Pdots and LLCs, Algar seems determined to achieve innovative goals that the scientific and medical communities have been striving to accomplish for a long time. He is quick to point out, however, that he does not do it alone, saying that he shares his success with his spouse, Melissa, who is also a scientist, as well as with his students, post-doctoral fellows, and collaborators.

	We asked Algar what advice he would give to someone that wanted to follow in his path. He broke it down to three key points: First, he pointed to work ethic, citing the Thomas Edison quote, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

	“I think I got ahead by outworking people rather than by outsmarting them,” said Algar. 

	Second, he said it is important to learn to be confident in the face of criticism. “It’s not easy, but I think the path to success is learning from, embracing, and even asking for critical-and hopefully constructive-feedback rather than avoiding it,” he said.

	His third recommendation, particularly for students, is to try not to be overwhelmed by the accomplishments, knowledge, or experience of people at later stages of their education or career. “You can’t instantly become those people, but each day you can try to learn something new, improve in some way, or move something forward (even a little bit), and eventually end up at the same point as them,” he said. 

	It’s obvious that Algar lives by that advice. 

 with Russ Algar focused on his research, challenges, and accomplishments will be published in the October 3, 2017, edition of our newsletter, 

	2018 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy: Now Accepting Nominations

	For information about how to nominate someone for the 2018 award, please see the call for nominations on our website: 

www.spectroscopyonline.com/emerging-leader-molecular

		W.R. Algar, M. Massey, and U.J. Krull, 

		J.J. Wang, J.R.R. Nunez, E.J. Maxwell, and W.R. Algar, 

		W.R. Algar, C.A.G. De Jong, E.J. Maxwell, and C.G. Atkins, 

		W.R. Algar, D. Wegner, A.L. Huston, J.B. Blanco-Canosa, M.H. Stewart, A. Armstrong, P.E. Dawson, N. Hildebrandt, and I.L. Medintz, 

 magazines in Iselin, New Jersey. Direct correspondence to: 

Russ Algar, the winner of Spectroscopy’s 2017 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy Award, is developing fluorescence assays and measurement systems based on quantum dots. One day, these methods may enable smartphone-based medical diagnostics.

The 2017 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy Award

 asked a panel of experts to assess the current state of the art of Raman spectroscopy and to try to predict how the technology will develop in the future.

Analysis of the State of the Art: Raman Spectroscopy

	We continue to see important new developments in spectroscopic techniques across the board, from mature techniques like IR to newer ones like LIBS. Here, we highlight the most important recent developments in IR, NIR, Raman, ICP-MS, LIBS, and XRF.
	 

How Are Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy techniques Advancing?

s celebration of 30 years covering the latest developments in materials analysis, we asked experts to assess the current state of the art of six key spectroscopic techniques. Here, the experts weigh in on the key challenges in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and how these problems might be solved.

	Several experts said that a key challenge with LIBS is that we still need a better understanding of the fundamentals of how the technique works.

	Richard R. Hark, the H. George Foster professor in the Department of Chemistry at Juniata College and Chief Scientist at Synergos Global Security, LLC, cited the need to improve our understanding of the factors that affect the physics of ablation and the chemistry that occurs in the plasma that is subsequently formed. "Such an understanding will enhance the utility of the LIBS method for qualitative and quantitative analysis," he said.

	Steven J. Rehse, an associate professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Windsor, agreed. "As a physicist, the inability to predict and calculate from first principles what the plasma emission spectrum will be from an arbitrary analyte atom in an arbitrary medium (commonly called the 

) remains a problem," he said. Vincent Motto-Ros, an associate professor at the Light and Matter Institute at Lyon University, echoed the point. "Efforts must continue on fundamental investigations of the laser-induced plasma," he said.

	Vassilia Zorba, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, also agreed, noting that several aspects of the laser–material interaction remain unknown. "Particularly in the femtosecond-time regime, nonlinear processes (such as multiphoton absorption) and the distinction between thermal and nonthermal processes hamper an a priori prediction of optical and thermal diffusion lengths," she said. "These parameters are critical toward defining laser sampling parameters (ablated material mass), plasma conditions, and resulting LIBS emission."

	A closely related problem is the so-called "matrix effect"-the fact that the signal from a specific analyte atom can depend on the sample matrix. "Spectroscopists who use LIBS know that parameter optimization for specific analytes in a particular matrix is both challenging and essential," added Hark.

	"The matrix effect makes the preparation of high-quality standards important," said Rehse. "It also makes it more difficult to sample highly heterogeneous samples like complex minerals or complicated powders like dirt or soil."

The Challenges of Quantitation and Reproducibility 

	Zhe Wang, an associate professor at Tsinghua University, noted that for practical quantitative analysis, the most important issue is to provide consistent analytical results. "Because of uncertain laser-sample interaction, unstable plasma and surrounding gas interaction, the inhomogeneous spatial distribution, and uncontrolled temporal revolution, it is very difficult for LIBS to provide such a stable spectral signal even using multi-pulse analysis and averaging a large number of spectra to remove the random noise," he said. "Reducing the variation between groups from the same sample is the overwhelming important issue that must be solved for LIBS to realize quantitative analysis and large-scale commercialization."

	Hark also noted that reproducibility between instruments is needed. "Unlike other analytical techniques like Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) or UV–visible spectroscopy, LIBS spectra obtained on different instruments using the same experimental parameters are not necessarily identical," said Hark. "Further work has to be done to make LIBS spectra interchangeable."

	Rehse cited another aspect of variability in LIBS measurements. "The pulse-to-pulse variation in plasma properties caused by laser shot repeatability issues is another challenge," he said.

	Rick Russo, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and president and CEO of Applied Spectra, feels the concerns about matrix effects and lack of reproducibility are overblown. "Like all analytical methodologies, LIBS requires standards for quantitative analysis," he said, adding that so-called "standardless" LIBS calibration methods eventually will be developed to meet specific applications. "And similar to any atomic spectroscopic approach, knowledge of spectral interferences and matrix effects is important for getting the best performance."

	He acknowledged that getting good analytical performance requires knowledge of the plasma temporal and spatial properties, as well as of the sample, and that a set of parameters has to be established for a particular sample material to give optimum performance. "Once the optimum method is established, precision and accuracy are repeatable and reliable," he said.

	Ishan Barman, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, suggested that rather than fretting over the reproducibility problem, we should not focus on trying to use LIBS only for quantitative studies. "An alternate, and better, route would be to focus on the development of LIBS primarily as a robust screening tool," he said. "As a screening tool, the relative variations-due to laser fluctuations, environmental and matrix effects, and self-absorption-would cease to have as much of an impact."

	Motto-Ros also feels that the sensitivity and accuracy of LIBS should be improved. Russo, however, believes there is a misconception regarding sensitivity and precision in LIBS. It's true that limits of detection (LODs) and precision for LIBS are generally considered poor compared to ICP-OES, he said, but on an absolute level, LIBS is very sensitive.

	"One of the primary reasons why relative LODs are not at the same level as ICP-OES, for example, is that LIBS only analyzes sub-microgram quantities of the sample," Russo stated. "However, the analyst can easily increase the amount of mass analyzed by raster scanning the laser over the sample. There are very few cases where sample quantity is limited." Thus, when comparing the LOD and precision of LIBS with those of ICP-OES, it is important to consider the actual mass being analyzed, he concluded.

	In terms of instrumentation, a key challenge is to develop better compact, high-pulse-energy laser sources that are suitable for LIBS use outside the laboratory, said Hark. "Small, relatively low-cost lasers with high beam quality capable of delivering multiple pulses of suitable energy are ideal for portable LIBS operation," he said. "As the components of LIBS systems are further miniaturized and ruggedized, the range of applications will consequently expand," Hark said.

	Zorba also considered how to expand the applicability of the technique. "Chemical imaging with extreme resolution is required for a variety of new applications, especially those related to energy research (generation, conversion, storage)," she noted. "LIBS is largely a macro- to meso-scale tool, and detecting LIBS emission signals from limited amounts of ablated mass becomes challenging as we scale down toward nanoscale LIBS."

	According to Motto-Ros, finding answers to these challenges will not be easy, but several research teams are working on them. "For example, Alessandro De Giacomo's group in Bari, Italy, has recently proposed a simple method (called 'nanoparticle-enhanced LIBS,' or NELIBS) to significantly improve sensitivity," he said.

	Motto-Ros also mentioned recent developments at his own institute that clearly show that measurement repeatability and reproducibility can be greatly improved by accurately controlling experimental parameters. Also, several groups are working on advanced algorithms that would greatly facilitate LIBS data analysis, he said. "But at some point, all of these research developments must be regrouped and integrated in a system that will then need to be validated and certified through a quality program," Motto-Ros said. "This will certainly take time."

	Barman agreed that progress has already been made on a number of the technical challenges of LIBS. He mentioned research by his and other groups to explore the feasibility of nongated LIBS to gain significant cost and size benefits-despite a modest reduction in overall performance. "I believe that some of the progress will also have to be application-specific," he said. "In other words, LIBS instrumentation for biomarker diagnostics in 10 years may look vastly different from a handheld system used for crime-scene investigations."

	Hark is optimistic that progress will be made to solve all of these problems in the next decade. "A significant amount of work has already been done with mathematical modeling to comprehend the complex processes that occur during the formation and analysis of plasma," he said. Hark also pointed to work that has been done with calibration-free LIBS quantitative analysis, which is based on the measurement of spectral line intensities and certain plasma properties. "As the connection between instrumental characteristics, experimental parameters, and spectral output is better understood, the calibration-free LIBS approach can be refined to deal with many of the problems in LIBS," Hark stated.

	Rehse also sees work progressing on both of these areas. "The theory behind the plasma emission continues to develop," he said. "And the advent of calibration-free LIBS suggests the possibility of obtaining high-accuracy analyte measurements from even the most complicated matrices without requiring any sort of standard by using self-consistent calculations based on known atomic emission parameters."

	Lasers are also always getting better, Rehse added. "It is already well-known that the femtosecond lasers produce much higher quality plasma due to a more controlled ablation process," he said. "Unfortunately, the current cost of femtosecond lasers, and their lack of portability and ruggedness, probably precludes their widespread adoption in the field or in industry." However, newer lasers, with a more tightly controlled spatial mode and shorter pulse durations can overcome this problem, he added.

	Zorba also anticipates advances that will broaden the scope of LIBS use. "Progress toward extending the range of new applications, including next-generation energy research, is likely to be significant in the next 5 years," she said. "This will be aided by improvements in spatial and axial resolution, chemical imaging, and visualization capabilities."

	Russo agreed. "The drive to make things smaller, cheaper, and faster will lead to a new development that will change the field," he said-just as occurred with other analytical spectroscopy instruments like ICP-OES and graphite furnace atomic absorption systems.

	Finally, Wang believes that the further development of LIBS is largely dependent on the success of its large-scale commercialization, and that this can be accomplished in next 5 years. "To realize large-scale commercialization, LIBS still needs to prove to customers the technical feasibility of using LIBS to realize consistent analyses," he said. "The combination of the improvement of hardware and data processing methods will make this happen," Wang added. "Once one or two commercial applications for LIBS are successful in realizing on-line or at-line measurement, the cost of LIBS will decrease and LIBS will be deployed more broadly."

“Analysis of the State of the Art: LIBS.”

	The article is part of a special group of six articles covering the state of the art of key techniques, also including 

inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

In honor of Spectroscopy’s celebration of 30 years covering the latest developments in materials analysis, we asked experts to assess the current state of the art of six key spectroscopic techniques. Here, the experts weigh in on the key challenges in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and how these problems might be solved.

Key Challenges in LIBS—and How to Solve Them

	This symposium was arranged by Jagdish P. Singh of Mississippi State University and Richard Russo of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The session will start promptly at 8:30 a.m. today in room 261 with introductory remarks from both Singh and Russo.

	The first talk in this session will be given by Javier Laserna of the University of Malaga. His talk is titled “Oceanic LIBS Spectroscopy: Concepts, Challenges and Tests in Mediterranean Waters.” Laserna will discuss the operating parameters of a marine LIBS analyzer.

	Jose R. Almirall of Florida International University will present the next talk titled “Analytical LIBS in the Forensic Science Laboratory.” Almirall will compare the analytical figures of merit of LIBS to laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for the analysis of several matrices of importance to forensic scientists. A comparison of the type of information gathered from LIBS and how the data is interpreted will also be presented.

	The third presentation in this symposium will be given by Steven J. Rehse of the University of Windsor. Rehse’s talk is titled “Progress and Challenges in Using LIBS for Bacteriological Identification” and will focus on the latest achievements in his lab to more fully develop LIBS-based bacterial sensing. He will also review the challenges his lab faces as they transition from laboratory demonstration experiments to more commercial biolab techniques and instrumentation. These challenges include: identifying a suitable substrate for mounting the bacteria, concentrating a number of cells for sufficient signal-to-noise from a clinical specimen, and introducing a limited number of cells reproducibly into the analytic spark.

	After a brief 15-min recess, Singh will present a talk titled “Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS): Application to Combustion Science.” Singh will review the various LIBS applications to combustion science including combustion products and flame diagnostics. The various experimental parameters that are important to combustion applications will also be addressed.

	The final talk in this symposium will be given by Vassilia Zorba of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Zorba’s talk is titled “Ultrafast LIBS for 3D Chemical Imaging” and will discuss the use of femtosecond LIBS coupled with advanced visualization capabilities for the elemental imaging of Li-ion battery components including anodes, cathodes, solid electrolytes, and interfacial layers. Two-dimensional (2D) layer-by-layer mapping, 2D cross-sectional imaging, and three-dimensional (3D) volume rendering of major and minor elements will also be presented.

This symposium was arranged by Jagdish P Singh of Mississippi State University and Richard Russo of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The session will start promptly at 8:30 a.m. today in room 261 with introductory remarks from both Singh and Russo.