Femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of explosives and explosive-related compounds

In this work, we describe femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to detect trace amounts of explosive-related compounds (ERCs). A high-power pulsed laser is used in LIES to form a plasma on the material surface and the optical radiation from the plasma is spectrally analyzed to determine the material composition. LIBS is minimally destructive because only a minute amount of material is consumed in the process. LIBS also enables remote analysis because only optical access to the material is needed. Femtosecond LIBS results for TNT on brass and molybdenum substrates, and RDX on molybdenum substrates are reported. We will also show the effect of detection gate delay and gate width on the enhancement of spectral information provided by LIBS.