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Laser Trace Vaporization of Trace Explosive Materials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2012

Michael Papantonakis ,
Robert Furstenberg ,
Christopher A. Kendziora ,
Viet Nguyen ,
Jakob Großer  and
R. Andrew McGill
Michael Papantonakis
Affiliation:
Functional Materials and Devices Section, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Robert Furstenberg
Affiliation:
Functional Materials and Devices Section, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Christopher A. Kendziora
Affiliation:
Functional Materials and Devices Section, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Viet Nguyen
Affiliation:
Functional Materials and Devices Section, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Jakob Großer
Affiliation:
Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung, F.-Sauerbruch-Str.1, 56073 Koblenz, Germany
R. Andrew McGill
Affiliation:
Functional Materials and Devices Section, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
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Abstract

The low vapor pressure of many energetic materials presents a challenge for detection by non-contact methods. We address this limitation by illuminating energetic materials including TNT and RDX with infrared lasers tuned to strong molecular absorption bands to efficiently heat trace amounts present on substrates. This substantially increases their vapor signatures for direct detection, obviating the need to swab surfaces for solid particles or to collect headspace vapors for extended time periods. The instantaneously generated vapor produced by Laser Trace Vaporization (LTV) can be detected by any number of techniques which can accommodate vapor sampling or spectroscopic analysis. Currently the testbed for LTV incorporates a tunable quantum cascade laser (QCL) to illuminate the sample and an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) to validate the signal enhancement. The LTV technique works well with all tested substrates, though the thermal and spectroscopic properties of the substrate can influence the efficiency of the vaporization. Computational results from laser heating along with experimental thermal kinetic measurements were used to optimize LTV laser irradiation parameters. In addition to a range of LTV results for different explosives and substrates, we explore the effects of wavelength-dependent heating on the sample and substrate.

Keywords

energetic materialinfrared (IR) spectroscopylaser
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1405: Symposium Y – Advances in Energetic Materials Research , 2012 , mrsf11-1405-y03-04
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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References

REFERENCES

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