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Laser-Based Sensitive Detection of Energetic Materials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

G. W. Lemire,
J. B. Simeonsson and
R. C. Sausa
G. W. Lemire
Affiliation:
US Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WT-PC, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005NRC/ARL Postdoctoral Research Associate
J. B. Simeonsson*
Affiliation:
US Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WT-PC, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005
R. C. Sausa*
Affiliation:
US Army Research Laboratory, AMSRL-WT-PC, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005
*
* NRC/ARL Postdoctoral Research Associate
* To whom correspondence should be addressed
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Abstract

The development of a novel technique for sensing trace vapors of -NO2 containing compounds is reported. This technique is based on the use of one laser operating at 226 nm to both photofragment the target molecule and detect the characteristic NO fragment, formed from a rapid predissociation of NO2, by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) via its A2Σ+ - X2Π (0,0) band origin. The analytical utility of this technique is demonstrated on a number of compounds, including dimethylnitramine, nitromethane, nitrobenzene, TNT, and RDX, employing molecular beam sampling with time-of-flight mass spectrometric analysis of the jet cooled analyte seeded in an atmosphere of buffer gas. For RDX and TNT, a detection limit of 8 and 24 ppb, respectively, is demonstrated using a laser energy of 100 microjoules/pulse.

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