Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for detection of explosives residues: a review of recent advances, challenges, and future prospects

Abstract

In this review we discuss the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to the problem of detection of residues of explosives. Research in this area presented in open literature is reviewed. Both laboratory and field-tested standoff LIBS instruments have been used to detect explosive materials. Recent advances in instrumentation and data analysis techniques are discussed, including the use of double-pulse LIBS to reduce air entrainment in the analytical plasma and the application of advanced chemometric techniques such as partial least-squares discriminant analysis to discriminate between residues of explosives and non-explosives on various surfaces. A number of challenges associated with detection of explosives residues using LIBS have been identified, along with their possible solutions. Several groups have investigated methods for improving the sensitivity and selectivity of LIBS for detection of explosives, including the use of femtosecond-pulse lasers, supplemental enhancement of the laser-induced plasma emission, and complementary orthogonal techniques. Despite the associated challenges, researchers have demonstrated the tremendous potential of LIBS for real-time detection of explosives residues at standoff distances.

Towards optoelectronic detection of explosives

“…The excited species can be identified by their characteristic fluo− rescence spectra. The capability to perform non−contact real time detection of trace amounts of matter makes these techniques very promising [50][51][52][53].…”

Sensors and Systems for the Detection of Explosive Devices - An Overview

“…The capability to perform non-contact real time multi-element detection makes LIBS a very interesting method for different applications [62][63][64], including the detection of explosives in trace amounts [65][66][67][68][69]. A typical setup of the LIBS sensor is shown in Fig.…”

Standoff ultraviolet raman scattering detection of trace levels of explosives.

“…As a result, investments have been made toward developing optical standoff detection approaches [3], including visible Raman scattering [4,5], laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) [6,7], photofragment (PF)-based approaches [8], coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) [9], and both passive and active infrared detection [10]. Thus far not one of these approaches has demonstrated the potential to achieve standoff detection of explosives traces with a field-deployable system on a variety of surfaces in realistic conditions.…”