An in-situ laser plasma spectroscopy (LPS) system for automated near
real-time elemental depth profiling of a target including: an optical
source configured to generate an optical beam, wherein the optical beam
is pulsed; an optical probe system configured to deliver the optical beam
from the optical source to a surface of a target to generate an ablation
plasma; a time resolved spectral detection system configured to generate
time resolved spectral data from emission signals from the ablation
plasma; and a data acquisition and processing system configured to
acquire the time resolved spectral data to determine, in combination with
predetermined calibration data, an absolute elemental concentration as a
function of depth in near real-time.