Methods and systems for analyzing samples

A system for analyzing a sample, the system comprising:

• an excitation source for converting a portion of the sample into a plasma multiple times;
• a spectrometer configured to record a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation in response to each of the sample conversions to define a sequence of spectra for the sample, wherein each member of the sequence corresponds to the spectrum recorded in response to a different one of the sample conversions and each spectrum is measured with a spectral resolution comprising at least 10,000 channels;
• and
• an electronic processor configured to compare the sequence of spectra for the sample to a sequence of spectra for each of at least one reference sample in a reference library and determine information about the sample based on the comparison to the at least one reference sample in the library.

A method for analyzing a sample, the method comprising:

• converting a portion of the sample into a plasma multiple times;
• recording a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted in response to each of the
• sample conversions to define a sequence of spectra for the sample, wherein each member of the sequence corresponds to the spectrum recorded in response to a different one of the sample conversions;
• using an electronic processor to compare the sequence of spectra for the sample to a sequence of spectra for each of at least one reference sample in a reference library, wherein the comparison by the electronic processor comprises identifying a degree to which the sequence for the sample matches a sequence for each of the at least one reference sample in the library, the identifying a degree comprises (1) comparing each spectrum in the sequence for the sample to the different spectra in the library to identify the different spectra from the library most likely to match the spectra in the sequence for the sample, (2) identifying which reference samples from the library comprise all of the identified spectra, and (3) identifying a degree to which the sequence for the sample matches a sequence for each of the identified reference samples, and the electronic processor uses a nearest neighbor algorithm to perform one or both of the identifying steps;
• and
• using the electronic processor to determine information about the sample based on the comparison to the at least one reference sample in the library.

A system for analyzing a sample, the system comprising:

• an excitation source for converting a portion of the sample into a plasma multiple times;
• a spectrometer configured to record a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation in response to each of the sample conversions to define a sequence of spectra for the sample, wherein each member of the sequence corresponds to the spectrum recorded in response to a different one of the sample conversions;
• and
• an electronic processor configured to compare the sequence of spectra for the sample to a sequence of spectra for each of at least one reference sample in a reference library and determine information about the sample based on the comparison to the at least one reference sample in the library, wherein the comparison by the electronic processor comprises identifying a degree to which the sequence for the sample matches a sequence for each of the at least one reference sample in the library, the identifying a degree comprises (1) comparing each spectrum in the sequence for the sample to the different spectra in the library to identify the different spectra from the library most likely to match the spectra in the sequence for the sample, (2) identifying which reference samples from the library comprise all of the identified spectra, and (3) identifying a degree to which the sequence for the sample matches a sequence for each of the identified reference samples, and the electronic processor is configured to use a nearest neighbor algorithm to perform one or both of the identifying steps.