Collaborative Research: Deployment of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy System from ROV Jason

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This project supports the test deployment of a completed laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system at seafloor hydrothermal vents using the remotely operated vehicle Jason as the support platform. Jason serves to align and orient the LIBS system using a three degree-of-freedom mechanical platform, and also provides high data rate bidirectional communication with the spectrometer. The testing will be based on two scientific use cases that are highly relevant to hydrothermal vents in a generic (i.e., not site specific) sense: the study of near-critical behavior of vent fluids and understanding chemical variability over a tidal cycle. Upon validation, the LIBS system will be made available to the hydrothermal vent science community.LIBS utilizes a laser focused to a beam 10 cm in diameter that creates a plasma once the breakdown threshold of the material is exceeded. A gated spectrometer covering the near infrared to ultraviolet range is used to capture the plasma spectrum and hence the elemental composition. LIBS operates on solids, liquids, gases and aerosols, and has been shown to operate under deep ocean pressure conditions. A real-time, non-invasive, simultaneously multi-elemental chemical sensing capability such as LIBS that does not require sample preparation would be a significant advance over current oceanographic technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.