Explosives and warfare agents remote Raman detection on realistic background samples

Abstract

Ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy measurements have been taken to detect non-uniform and self-prepared samples of both explosives and warfare agent simulants on realistic backgrounds. The main goal was to quantify the minimum requirements for an unambiguous identification in remote detection (distance 50 cm) with a commercial Czerny-Turner spectrometer coupled with a ICCD camera. Different backgrounds in the categories of metals, natural, construction materials, transparent and plastics were used to simulate realistic encounters in a possible warzone scenario. The distribution of the chemicals was random in order to simulate a realistic measurement, and the exact detected amount was determined during the post-processing. Measurements show the capability of the developed Raman system to detect amount always in the range of μg range. Further data analysis will demonstrate the extension of the detection up to ng range for few cases. An analysis of the incident laser beam angle, size (diameter) and energy dependency is also discussed to demonstrate the technological limits outside the optimal detecting conditions.

An Unmanned Vehicle-Based Remote Raman System for Real-Time Trace Detection and Identification

“…The remote detection of chemicals using laser-based techniques is highly desirable due to increasing planetary exploration activities and anti-terrorism government programs for detecting hazardous chemicals [1][2][3][4]. Remote Raman systems, consisting of an active pulsed laser and a gated detector provide rapid and reliable detection and identification of chemicals, via gating the pulsed Raman echoes.…”

“…Although gated Raman techniques have achieved great success, such systems can have limitations due to their relatively large volume, heavy weight, and the power consumption of the low repetition frequency high-energy pulsed laser (especially for the required water cooler), which is not suitable for portable and unmanned vehicle requirements. Moreover, because of the continued worldwide rise of terrorist activities, it is urgent to develop compact, easily transportable, and fully automated remote Raman detection systems for the trace detection and identification of information with high-level confidence about the target's composition and conformation in real-time and for real field scenarios [2].…”

Molecular Fingerprinting of the Omicron Variant Genome of SARS-CoV-2 by SERS Spectroscopy

“…In particular, the optical methods based on the inelastically scattered light in spontaneous Raman processes [14] represent a very powerful answer for nondestructive and standoff label-free unique identification and structural characterization of materials. Raman spectroscopy boasts applications ranging from material science [15][16][17][18] to the detection of hazardous materials [19,20], from biological science up to medical diagnosis and clinical implementations [21][22][23][24]. In principle, Raman spectroscopy is capable of revealing SARS-CoV-2, whatever the variant.…”