Towards a compact, portable, handheld device for contactless real-time standoff detection of hazardous substances

Christopher Carson; John Macarthur; Matthew Warden; David Stothard; Lorenz Butschek; Stefan Hugger; Jan-Philip Jarvis; Marko Haertelt; Ralf Ostendorf; Andre Merten; Markus Schwarzenberg; Jan Grahmann; Marcin Ratajczyk

doi:10.1117/12.2305711

29 May 2018 Towards a compact, portable, handheld device for contactless real-time standoff detection of hazardous substances

Christopher Carson, John Macarthur, Matthew Warden, David Stothard, Lorenz Butschek, Stefan Hugger, Jan-Philip Jarvis, Marko Haertelt, Ralf Ostendorf, Andre Merten, Markus Schwarzenberg, Jan Grahmann, Marcin Ratajczyk

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10624, Infrared Technology and Applications XLIV; 106240F (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2305711
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2018, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

Here we report our recent achievements towards a compact, portable, handheld device for contactless real-time detection and identification of explosives and hazardous substances via reflectance spectroscopy in the 7.5 μm – 10 μm spectral region. The mid-IR spectroscopic measurement principle relies on selective illumination of the target using broadly tunable external cavity quantum cascade lasers (EC-QCLs). A resonant micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems (MOEMS) grating enables fast wavelength tuning in the external cavity, allowing the full spectral scan to be completed in <1 ms. The diffusely backscattered light’s intensity dependence on illumination wavelength provides spectroscopic information to identify threat compounds via our spectral database, containing a large number of materials relevant in a security context. We present a handheld portable, albeit tethered, device capable of real-time identification of hazardous substances at a range of 1 m. We will outline future improvements to increase the system’s usability, such as integrated computing power, automated focusing to that allow use over a range of detection distances and spatial scanning for background subtraction.

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Christopher Carson, John Macarthur, Matthew Warden, David Stothard, Lorenz Butschek, Stefan Hugger, Jan-Philip Jarvis, Marko Haertelt, Ralf Ostendorf, Andre Merten, Markus Schwarzenberg, Jan Grahmann, and Marcin Ratajczyk "Towards a compact, portable, handheld device for contactless real-time standoff detection of hazardous substances", Proc. SPIE 10624, Infrared Technology and Applications XLIV, 106240F (29 May 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2305711

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