Abstract In this work was used laser induced breakdown spectroscopy to study and characterize a sample of austenitic, steel American Iron and Steel Institute nomenclature, 304 series, with the objective of identifying constituent elements in the material. The steel was chosen because it is an economic and multipurpose material, which due to its physical characteristics, it is of great interest in the construction industry, design of tools and mechanical equipment. The contributions of this research to the industrial and metallurgical sector is that the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy technique allows to reduce costs in the experimental execution for qualitative studies of steels. Plasma generation was performed by focusing the radiation laser on the surface of a sample of steel. Plasma radiation generated was conducted through an optical fiber to a Mechelle spectrograph attached to an Intensified charge coupled device camera. The information obtained through the spectra allowed the characterization of the plasma by means of the parameters electronic temperature and electronic density, as well as the elementary identification of constituents of the steel sample, allowing identify major elements such as chromium, nickel, manganese and silicon, being concordant with the composition of elements present in the austenitic steel.