Evaluation of femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for explosive residue detection

Recently laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been investigated as a potential technique for trace explosive detection. Typically LIBS is performed using nanosecond laser pulses. For this work, we have investigated the use of femtosecond laser pulses for explosive residue detection at two different fluences. Femtosecond laser pulses have previously been shown to provide several advantages for laser ablation and other LIBS applications. We have collected LIBS spectra of several bulk explosives and explosive residues at different pulse durations and energies. In contrast to previous femtosecond LIBS spectra of explosives, we have observed atomic emission peaks for the constituent elements of explosives carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. Preliminary results indicate that several advantages attributed to femtosecond pulses are not realized at higher laser fluences. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America