Applied Spectra, Inc. (ASI) is a leading supplier of analytical instruments. We stand at the forefront of laser ablation (LA) based elemental analysis techniques, with our world-class scientific and engineering teams. ASI simplifies the process of elemental chemical analysis, while delivering rapid, high-precision results that are environmentally friendly.

Our technology offers a compelling value proposition over traditional chemical analysis methods, which are slower and frequently involve destroying the sample and generating toxic chemical waste by-products.

Powerful, Customizable LIBS and LA-ICP-MS Products

Applied Spectra’s comprehensive and highly customizable product portfolio gives our customers a wide range of LA-based analytical solutions. Customers maximize their initial capital investment with respect to the required analytical performance.

Our products deliver elemental and isotopic detection capabilities from ppm down to ppb level across virtually all elements in the periodic table. The versatile RT100 Series LIBS and J100 Series LA-ICP-MS platforms are designed to allow the use of different laser parameters for sample analysis, thus extending the applicability of ASI's instruments over a wide range of sample matrices.

Mission Statement

Applied Spectra's vision is to be the premiere analytical instrumentation manufacturer based on laser ablation technology.

Our products:

Improve the analytical measurement experience for the end user with highly automated analytical protocols,
Make the analytical technology directly accessible to the end user, and
Enable "green" analytical solutions for our customers.

At the Forefront of Elemental Chemical Analysis

Applied SpectraApplied Spectra, Inc. (ASI) is the leading supplier of analytical instruments using laser ablation (LA) technology. We've assembled a world-class scientific team whose members are truly the experts in LA-based chemical analysis. Our customers don't just buy an instrument, they buy the very best best scientific and technical support team.

ASI's products simplify elemental chemical analysis, while delivering rapid, high-precision results that are environmentally friendly. Our technology offers compelling advantages over traditional chemical analysis methods, which are slower and frequently involve destroying the sample while generating toxic chemical waste by-products.

Our History

Applied Spectra, Inc. was founded in 2004 by Dr. Richard E. Russo. As a pioneer in the study and development of laser ablation and LIBS at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for almost 30 years, Dr. Russo realized that laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS and LIBS) could provide tremendous value for customers engaged in chemical analysis.

We established an application laboratory and manufacturing facility in Fremont, California to provide state-of-art instruments for clean chemical analysis. Since its inception, the company has been awarded eight SBIR/STTR contracts from the United States Department of Defense, Department of Energy and NASA. In 2007, we introduced the most sensitive commercial laboratory LIBS instrument, the RT100-HP, and in 2008 the first integrated LA-ICP-MS system.

Customers and Markets

Environmental analysis: detecting contaminants, hazardous substances, and studying the carbon cycle,
Alternative energy manufacturing: solar cells, next-generation batteries, chemical analysis/metrology,
Forensic science: substance discrimination, counterfeit analysis, nuclear material characterization,
Analytical researchers: development of LIBS and LA-ICP-MS analytical protocols, supporting R&D community.

Applications

Applied Spectra's LIBS technology has a wide range of real-world applications for elemental analysis — from metal alloys to organic materials — and much more. Here are a few examples:

RoHS compliance testing for electronic components

With the global push to adopt the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste Electrical Electronic and Equipment (WEEE) directives, there is an increasing need for component manufacturers in the electronic supply chain to monitor RoHS-banned substances in materials used for electronics manufacturing. The impacted elements under RoHS regulation are lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and bromine. LIBS can effectively detect and quantify these elements in:

LIBS is an excellent elemental testing technique for small electronic parts, thin wire, and thin-plating materials where low signal and the possible interference from the substrate underneath may make traditional XRF analysis challenging.

A major US flash memory manufacturer has adopted ASI’s LIBS solution to monitor Pb in their leadframes and FBGA products. 

Raw quartz material and solar silicon feedstock analysis

Recent events have led to explosive growth for innovative crystalline (c-Si) solar silicon manufacturing processes, in order to drive down the overall manufacturing cost of producing solar cells. The solar industry has considered next generation solar-grade silicon with lower purity (~ 5N to 6N) that is significantly more cost-effective. However, elemental impurities such as Fe, Al, Ca, Ti, Ni, Cu, Cr, B, and P are known to influence minority carrier life time and ultimately degrade the efficiency of solar cells.

By using rapid on-line LIBS elemental analysis, quality control professionals can monitor elemental impurities during solar silicon production. Additionally, with frequent chemical characterization of their incoming Si raw materials, solar cell manufacturers can control costs and maintain the consistency of solar cell performance in their finished products.

For solar silicon production, LIBS provides cost-effective analytical solutions for:

Plant and soil analysis

The ability of LIBS technology to quickly perform elemental surveys and quantify elemental concentrations in plants and soils is enabling research into ecological topics such as:

Based on traditional elemental techniques involving wet acid dissolution (ICP-OES and AA), the entire plant fibers and the soils must be digested. This process is time-consuming and tedious, and requires heavy use of toxic acids, often limiting the number of samples and the frequency of data collection. With LIBS, elemental analysis can be performed quickly. The increased analytical throughput with LIBS enables environmental/ecological researchers to consider a higher volume of plant and soil samples per study, leading to more statistically meaningful conclusions.

Contact ASI's technical sales staff to discover how to move your plant and soil analysis into the field using LIBS.

Addtional applications

Applied Spectra’s Analytical Application Group strongly encourages interested website visitors to check back soon for customer application notes in these areas: