Non-contact detection of explosives by means of a tunable diode laser spectroscopy

As explosives are unstable, their decay products may be targeted for detection by means of tunable diode laser spectroscopy (TDLS). A model in which an explosive is placed inside an envelope with a hole in it has been studied. It has been shown that outside the envelope the concentration of the decay products may exceed that of the vapors of an explosive, by several orders. Decay products of explosives have been investigated using Fourier-transform spectrometry and TDLS. The following decay products have been identified: NO, N2O, CO, NH3. Analysis of the temperature dependencies of their occurrence rates has allowed estimation of the activation energies, which appear to be close to 1 eV. An experimental model of the diode laser spectrometer designed for noncontact detection of explosives has been developed. The possibility of such detection has been demonstrated experimentally.