Complementary safety systems for laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

A laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) device, comprising:

• a laser configured to direct a laser beam through a sample chamber to a surface of a sample, and
• a spectrometer configured to detect a spectral distribution of emissions from the sample in response to the laser beam;
• a plurality of safety mechanisms comprising at least two of a chamber pressure based safety mechanism, a chamber light based safety mechanism, an inductive proximity sensor, and a spectral-feedback based safety mechanism;
• a user interface comprising a menu of choices that include a plurality of measurement challenges associated with a LIBS analytical technique, wherein the user interface is configured to receive a user selection of a measurement challenge from the menu;
• and
• a processor configured to associate the selected measurement challenge with one or more of the safety mechanisms compatible with the selected measurement challenge and prevent operation of the laser if at least one of the compatible safety mechanisms is activated, wherein the selected measurement challenge is associated with one or more of the safety mechanisms incompatible with the selected measurement challenge and the incompatible safety mechanisms are shut off or signals therefrom are ignored by the processor.