In the recent LIBS meetings, a lack of precision and accuracy of LIBS method was emphasized by several parties. To demonstrate the analytical performance of LIBS, a proficiency testing (PT) scheme,

is set-up by BAM, which has ample experience in evaluation of PT schemes.

The contest is based on 10 homogeneous steel samples for calibration and 3 further samples for analysis. The elements under study are C, Si, Mn, Cr, Ni, Mo, Co in a concentration range accessible by LIBS.

The samples are available through the BAM web shop (please refer to Veranstaltungen/public events) for a symbolic price of 100 EUR which is intended to create the LIBS Application AWARD.

About 30 samples sets are available and will be distributed to interesting parties on request. Requests will be granted in the order that they arrived. The samples are accompanied by the documentation to advise in which way the experimental and sampling parameters should be reported.

To participate and register for the contest, order the samples simply through the BAM web shop, a registration for the LIBS 2008 is not required!

It is intended to report the outcome of the exercise in a workshop during the conference and to publish the outcome in Spectrochimica Acta B as a landmark paper for LIBS performance.

The deadline for providing the results is 01.09.2008 for all participants. Additional information on the elemental concentrations of all samples will be distributed to all participants after the end of the contest for further use of the samples.

It is intended to later extend this PT scheme to other materials if the contest if well accepted by the LIBS community.

Here are the files to report the results...as Excel-file and pdf-file