Standoff detection of explosives and chemical agents using broadly tuned external-cavity quantum cascade lasers (EC-QCLs)

Eric B. Takeuchi; Timothy Rayner; Miles Weida; Salvatore Crivello; Timothy Day

doi:10.1117/12.768932

8 October 2007 Standoff detection of explosives and chemical agents using broadly tuned external-cavity quantum cascade lasers (EC-QCLs)

Eric B. Takeuchi, Timothy Rayner, Miles Weida, Salvatore Crivello, Timothy Day

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6741, Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism and Crime Fighting III; 674104 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.768932
Event: Optics/Photonics in Security and Defence, 2007, Florence, Italy

Abstract

Civilian soft targets such as transportation systems are being targeted by terrorists using IEDs and suicide bombers. Having the capability to remotely detect explosives, precursors and other chemicals would enable these assets to be protected with minimal interruption of the flow of commerce. Mid-IR laser technology offers the potential to detect explosives and other chemicals in real-time and from a safe standoff distance. While many of these agents possess "fingerprint" signatures in the mid-IR (i.e. in the 3-20 micron regime), their effective interrogation by a practical, field-deployable system has been limited by size, complexity, reliability and cost constraints of the base laser technology. Daylight Solutions has addressed these shortcomings by developing compact, portable, broadly tunable mid-IR laser sources based upon external-cavity quantum cascade technology. This technology is now being applied by Daylight in system level architectures for standoff and remote detection of explosives, precursors and chemical agents. Several of these architectures and predicted levels of performance will be presented.

Citation Download Citation

Eric B. Takeuchi, Timothy Rayner, Miles Weida, Salvatore Crivello, and Timothy Day "Standoff detection of explosives and chemical agents using broadly tuned external-cavity quantum cascade lasers (EC-QCLs)", Proc. SPIE 6741, Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism and Crime Fighting III, 674104 (8 October 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.768932

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