EXPLOSIVES DETECTION USING RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY

• Main Authors: BARTKO, Andrew P, RONNINGEN, Theodore J
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 04.11.2020
• Subjects: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIRCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MEASURING; PHYSICS; TESTING

There is provided a method for detecting threat materials used in explosives. The method comprises receiving a sample (202), selecting a target location (204) within the sample that segregates a target material from an innocuous material, and interrogating the selected target material (206), with a Raman laser (106E), thereby producing a Raman spectrum. The method further comprises determining whether the interrogated target material is a threat material by comparing (208) an amplitude of a first spectral region in the Raman spectrum, to a first predetermined threshold. The method further comprises performing a verification (212), only when the determination indicates that the interrogated target material is the threat material, by comparing a second predetermined threshold against an amplitude of a second spectral region in the Raman spectrum measured during the interrogation, where the second spectral region is different from the first spectral region. Lastly, the method comprises activating an indicator (214) if the verification indicates that the interrogated target material is the threat material.