Highly sensitive standoff detection and identification of traces of explosives and of biological and chemical agents

Our experiments focused on monitoring the signal obtained from diffuse reflections of forward-generated coherent anti- Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), occurring in different samples, referred to as "backward-CARS" (B-CARS). The methodology of B-CARS was developed and the feasibility of using it as a spectroscopic tool for standoff detection of particles of explosives and related compounds studied. Signals of both the B-CARS and spontaneous Raman scattering under similar conditions were monitored to compare their sensitivities. In addition, the dependence of the B-CARS signal on the distance was measured at short ranges and the standoff detection capabilities of the method at long distances estimated. The measurements imply that B-CARS allows favorable detection as compared to Raman. However, an inherent drawback of the developed narrowband B-CARS method is the need to scan the Stokes beam frequency to monitor the different vibrational levels of the detected species. We therefore embarked on a broadband B-CARS method (patent pending) which is based on the application of a sub-ns ultra-broadband laser source for the Stokes beam and enables to monitor simultaneously a wide span of vibrational transitions of the detected species.