Explosives Detection

The detection of explosives is a notoriously difficult problem, especially at stand-off, due to their (generally) low vapor pressure, environmental and matrix interferences, and packaging. DE-9 is exploring a variety of new approaches to this problem, including

• external stimulus of defects and interfaces in crystalline explosive materials to enhance signals that can be used for detection, and
• optimal dynamic quantum control methodologies, in collaboration with Princeton University, to increase signal levels for a number of different kinds of standard spectroscopic detection methods, as well as to improve selectivity.

In addition, we test and evaluate advanced detection instrumentation for a variety of customers. Such studies have included

• testing and evaluating new commercial instrumentation for DOE and other customers (e.g., portable Raman),
• demonstrating low-cost embodiments of commercial instrumentation (e.g., low cost Raman using original equipment manufacturers' parts), and
• developing surface-enhanced Raman and demonstrating its use for explosives vapor detection at the parts-per-billion-by-volume level.