Description
Interrogation of different types of chemical hazardous materials requires ascertaining the unknown chemical substances’ identity followed by the institution of appropriate countermeasures against the potential harm/toxicity of the substance. New emerging challenges from organised crime and terrorist groups underline the vital need for sensitive and selective rapid identification of substances such as drug mixtures, chemical and biological warfare (CBW), explosives and toxic spills in field while adapting a non-contact approach to the hazard. These challenges may also require identifying concealed hazards without opening a suspected packaging in order to minimize harmful exposures.
Several techniques have been utilized for the detection and identification of hazardous substances. However, these methods require the personnel as well as parts of the instrument to come in contact with the hazardous sample. In addition to placing workers at risk, any time an instrument comes in contact with the contaminant; it must either be disposed of in a controlled manner or thoroughly decontaminated. On the other hand, some techniques require moving complex laboratory equipment out to the field.
Different spectroscopy techniques has been proven efficient in the detection of chemicals that could pose as a potential threat. In fact, nonlinear spectroscopy methods such as Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) spectroscopy and mid-IR spectroscopy are emerging techniques in the chemical detection. Both techniques target the vibrations of the chemical molecules and could also be used remotely. The advantage of CARS spectroscopy is the high sensitivity of the technique to the molecular vibrations. The signal yield with CARS is much higher that what could be obtained through other raman techniques. Mid-IR spectroscopy is another efficient techniques due to the fact that various chemicals exhibit higher specific absorption peaks in the mid-IR spectral region.
Genia Photonics specializes in developing technologies to perform CARS and Mid-IR spectroscopies. Genia Photonics versatile synchronized programmable laser can be used as a source to generate CARS signals or mid-IR signals. These products can be found in the two following categories of products:
- Synchronized Programmable Laser for Vibrational Nonlinear Spectroscopy
- Synchronized Programmable Laser for Mid-IR Spectroscopy