Material Analysis

Analysis systems that identify chemical elements, substances or material units are assuming increasingly complex tasks throughout various new industries. Fraunhofer ILT develops laser-based methods for material analysis that meet these challenges and are also economical. This is made possible, for example, by particularly short cycle times. In-line material analysis allows materials or substances to be analyzed and classified using the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) process. In the field of resource recovery and recycling of old electronics, this process can be used to quickly and selectively detect individual components or entire groups of components in grid measurements. Circuit boards can thus be evaluated as multi-element maps. The developed technology can also be used for quality assurance or identification testing of, for example, metallic components or for the characterization of raw materials.

The range of services in Material Analysis covers all areas in the development of application-specific analysis systems. Fraunhofer ILT offers its customers feasibility studies, the development and implementation of laser-based processes for material analysis, the integration of analysis systems into industrial processing as well as individual consulting.

Spectroscopic Methods

• Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)
• Raman spectroscopy
• Fluorescence spectroscopy

Analytical Capabilities

• Quantitative analysis for all chemical elements
• Analysis and detection of chemical compounds
• Condition analysis of mixtures and gases
• Isotopic analysis 

Fields of Application

• Inline analysis of production materials
• Automatic quality control and mix-up inspection
• Observation of process parameters
• Intake control and sorting of processed materials
• Online analysis of exhaust emissions, dust and effluents
• Macro- and microscopic laser imaging analysis
• Fast screening methods for large sample quantities

Development of Prototypes

• Feasibility studies
• Custom build solutions and laser measurement systems
• Prototypes for measuring problems in industrial applications

Connemann, S., Ambrosch, R., Bergmann, K., Britten, S., Brumm, H., Eschen, M., Fricke-Begemann, C., Gehlen, C., Kurylak, W., Noll, R., Sellin, G., Siguier, M., Tori, A., Verglia, F., 
Next generation urban mining – laser-based sensing and sorting of electronic scap, 
Proc. 8th Sensor-Based Sorting and Control, ISBN 978-3-8440-5805-5, 29-37 (2018)

Noll, R., Connemann, S., Fricke-Begemann, C., Schreckenberg, F., Ambrosch, R., Tori, A., Guolo, M., 
Inverse production line for the automated dismantling of mobile phones with selective laser-based detaching and sorting of valuable components
Proc. Berliner Recycling- und Rohstoffkonferenz, Thomé-Kozmiensky Verlag GmbH, 533-543 (2018)

Noll, R., Fricke-Begemann, C., Connemann, S., Meinhardt, C., Sturm, V., 
LIBS analyses for industrial applications – an overview of developments from 2014 to 2018, 
J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 33, 945-956 (2018)

Noll, R., Ambrosch, R., Bergmann, K., Britten, S., Brumm, H., Chmielarz, A., Connemann, S., Eschen, M., Frank, A., Fricke-Begemann, C., Gehlen, C., Gorewoda, T., Guolo, M., Kurylak, W., Makowe, J., Sellin, G., Siguier, M., Tori, A., Veglia, F.:
Next generation urban mining – automated disassembly, separation and recovery of valuable materials from electronic equipment: overview of R&D approaches and first results of the European project ADIR
Proceedings European Metallurgical Conference EMC 2017, 799-816 (2017)

Mahler, G., Westphalen, T. :
Laserangeregte Thermografie von CFK-Bauteilen
Thermographie-Kolloquium 2017, 28. – 29. September 2017 in Berlin. Beitrag 7 , (8 S.) (2017)

Meinhardt, C., Sturm, V., Fleige, R., Fricke-Begemann, C., Noll, R.:
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of scaled steel samples taken from continuous casting blooms
Spectrochim. Acta Part B  123, 171-178 (2016)

Bußmann, J., Odstrcil, M., Bresenitz, R., Teramoto, Y., Juschkin, L.:
Ptychographic imaging with a tin plasma based EUV light source
JARA-FIT Annual Report 2015, 147-148 (2016)

Bensmann, S., Gaußmann, F., Lewin, M., Wüppen, J., Nyga, S., Janzen, C., Jungbluth, B., Taubner, T.:
Near-field imaging and spectroscopy of locally strained GaN using an IR broadband laser
Opt. Expr. 22 (19), 22369-22381 (2014)

Khalil, O. M., Mingareev, I., Bonhoff, T., El-Sherid, A. F., Richardson, M. C., Harith, M. A.:
Studying the effect of zeolite inclusion in aluminum alloy on measurement of its surface hardness using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technique
Optical Engineering 53, 1-5 (2014)

Preussner, J., Oeser, S., Pfeiffer, W., Temmler, A., Willenborg, E.:
Microstructure and residual stresses of laser remelted surfaces of a hot work tool steel
International Journal of Materials Research 105 (4), 328-336 (2014)

Scharun, M., Fricke-Begemann, C.:
Handheld chemical analysis with laser for recycling applications
Sensor-based Sorting 2014, (Ed.) Waschki, Ulrich, March 11-13, 2014, Aachen, Schriftenreihe der GDMB Gesellschaft der Metallurgen und Bergleute e.V. 135, pp. 107-115 (2014)

Sturm, V., Fleige, R., de Kanter, M., Leitner, R., Pilz, K., Fischer, D., Hubmer, G., Noll, R.:
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for 24/7 automatic liquid slag analysis at a steel works
Anal. Chem. Online First (6 S.) (2014)

Nastasi, G., Wester, R., Colla, V., Noll, R.:
Determining inclusion size distributions from OES/PDA data
Metallurgical analysis/Yejin-fenxi : shuangyuekan33, (3), 9-13 (2013)

Scharun, M., Fricke-Begemann, C., Noll, R.:
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy with multi-kHz fibre laser for mobile metal analysis tasks — A comparison of different analysis methods and with a mmobile spark-discharge optical emission spectroscopy apparatus
Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, Volume 87, 198-207 (2013)

Fricke-Begemann, C., Noll, R., Monteith, A., Maddison, A., Dürr, M.:
Feasibility-study on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for pre-screening of environmental samples. 
Proc. 33rd ESARDA Annual Meeting, Budapest, 16.-20. Mai 2011. 7 S., 2011

Fricke-Begemann, C., Graf, N.:
Impiego del laser nel riciclaggio dei metalli. 
Applicazioni Laser Nov/Dic, 44-47, 2011

Fricke-Begemann, C., Noll, R., Wotruba, H., Schmitz, C.,
Laser-based material analysis for sorting of minerals.
In: Applications of sensor-based sorting in the raw material industry. Eds.: Thomas Pretz, Hermann Wotruba, Karl Nienhaus. Aachen: Shaker 2011. (Schriftenreihe zur Aufbereitung und Veredlung.  Bd 42.) ISBN 978-3-8440-05,65-70 2011

Fricke-Begemann, C., Strauß, N., Noll, R.:
Laser-based methods for chemical composition analysis of particulate emissions from steelmaking processes. 
Proc. of the CETAS 2011, Luxembourg, 17.-19. Mai 2011. OC19. pp. 131-138, 2011

Noll, R., Sturm, V., Fricke-Begemann, C., Werheit, P., Makowe, J.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy - new perspectives for in-line analysis of materials
Metallurg. Anal./Yejin-fenxi : shuangyuekan 30, Suppl. 9, 22-30
2010

Strauss, N., Fricke-Begemann, C., Noll, R.
Size-resolved analysis of fine and ultrafine particulate matter by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
J. Anal. Atomic Spectrom. 25, 867-874
2010

C. Gehlen, J. Makowe, R. Noll
Automatisierte Verwechslungsprüfung von Edelstahlhalbzeugen in der Produktion
Stahl und Eisen
129, Nr 7, 70-72, 2009

R. Wester, R. Noll
Heuristic modeling of spectral plasma emission for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
J. Appl. Phys.
106, 123302-1-123302-10, 2009

R. Noll, V. Sturm, J. Makowe
Laseremissionsspektrometrie analysiert zeitnah Stahlproben
Stahl und Eisen
129, 61-65, 2009

R. Noll, M. Krauhausen
Onlineprüfung von Rohren mit Lasertechnik
Stahlmarkt
H. 1, 40, 2009

C. Fricke-Begemann
Partikel-Zusammensetzung mit Laserspektroskopie messen
Laborpraxis
Nr 12, 48-50, 2009

T. Kuhlen, C. Fricke-Begemann, N. Strauss, R. Noll
Analysis of size-classified fine and ultrafine particulate matter on substrates with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Spectrochim. Acta Part B
63, 1171-1176, 2008

V. Sturm, H.-U. Schmitz, T. Reuter, R. Fleige, R. Noll
Fast vacuum slag analysis in a steel works by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Spectrochim. Acta Part B
63, 1167-1170, 2008

R. Noll, V. Sturm, Ü. Aydin, D. Eilers, C. Gehlen, M. Höhne, A. Lamott, J. Makowe, J. Vrenegor
Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy - from research to industry, new frontiers for process control
Spectrochim. Acta Part B
63, 1159-1166, 2008

Ü. Aydin, P. Roth, C. D. Gehlen, R. Noll
Spectral line selection for time-resolved investigations of laser-induced plasmas by an iterative Boltzmann plot method
Spectrochim. Acta Part B
63, 1060-1065, 2008

I. Mingareev, A. Horn
Time-resolved investigations of plasma and melt efections in metals by pump-probe shadowgraphy
Appl. Phys. A
92, 917-920, 2008

L. Peter, R. Noll
Material ablation and plasma state for single and collinear double pulses interacting with iron samples at ambient gas pressures below 1 bar
Appl. Phys. B
86, 159-167, 2007

V. Sturm
Optical micro-lens array for laser plasma generation in spectrochemical analysis
J. Anal. Atom. Spectr.
22, 1495-1500, 2007

R. Wester, R. Noll
Fast Characterisation of Steel Cleanness by Advanced Mathematical Analysis of Spark and Laser Source Optical Emission Data
Progress in Analytical Chemistry in the Steel and Metal Industries 7
209-212, 2006

R. Noll, V. Sturm, M. Stepputat, A. Whitehouse, J. Young, P. Evans
Industrial applications of LIBS.
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS): Fundamentals and Applications
Ed. A.W. Miziolek, V. Palleschi, I. Schechter
Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr. (2006)
400-439, 2006

A. Löbe, J. Vrenegor, R. Fleige, V. Sturm, R. Noll
Laser-induced ablation of a steel sample in different ambient gases by use of collinear multiple laser pulses
Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry 385
326-332, 2006

R. Noll, U. Panne
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy - EMSLIBS 2005
Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry 385
212-213, 2006

H. Balzer, M. Höhne, R. Noll, V. Sturm
New approach for online monitoring of the Al depth profile of the hot-dip galvanised sheet steel using LIBS
Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry 385
225-233, 2006

H. Balzer, M. Hoehne, S. Hoelters, V. Sturm,
R. Noll, E. Leunis, S. Janssen, M. Raulf,
P. Sanchez, M. Hemmerlin
Online depth profiling of zinc coated sheet steel by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Progress in Analytical Chemistry in the Steel and Metal Industries 7
237-242, 2006

J. Vrenegor, V. Sturm, R. Noll, M. Hemmerlin, 
U. Thurmann, J. Flock
Preparation and analysis of production control samples by a two-step method
Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop "Progress in Analytical Chemistry in the Steel and Metal Industries"
81-86, 2006

H. Balzer,S. Hölters, V. Sturm, R. Noll
Systematic line selection for online coating thickness measurement of galvanised sheet steel using LIBS
Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry 385
234-239, 2006

R. Noll
Terms and notations for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry 385
214-218, 2006