Long Wave Infrared Cavity Enhanced Sensors

Technical Report · Thu Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/877071· OSTI ID:877071

Taubman, Matthew S; Scott, David C; Cannon, Bret D; Myers, Tanya L; Munley, John T; Nguyen, Vinh T; Schultz, John F

The principal goal of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL's) long wave infrared (LWIR) cavity enhanced sensor (CES) task is to explore ultra-sensitive spectroscopic chemical sensing techniques and apply them to detecting proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Our primary application is detecting signatures of WMD production, but LWIR CES techniques are also capable of detecting chemical weapons. The LWIR CES task is concerned exclusively with developing novel point sensors; stand-off detection is addressed by other PNNL tasks and projects. PNNL's LWIR CES research is distinguished from that done by others by the use quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) as the light source. QCLs are novel devices, and a significant fraction of our research has been devoted to developing the procedures and hardware required to implement them most effectively for chemical sensing. This report details the progress we have made on LWIR CES sensor development.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 877071
• Report Number(s): PNNL-15576; NN2001000
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
DETECTION
LASERS
LIGHT SOURCES
PRODUCTION
PROLIFERATION
WEAPONS