Portable Raman Optical Trace Explosive Detection System

To address the need for a portable device to detect trace amounts of peroxide-based homemade explosives (HME) on individuals and packages in public transportation settings, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Portable Raman Optical Trace Explosive Detection (PROTEX) system. This man-portable noncontact system will agitate, sample and concentrate an air sample near the test object, followed by Raman optical analysis of this concentrate to determine whether HME or other explosive constituents are present. It features a throughput of three individuals/packages screened per minute; high sensitivity from ppm to ppb levels or lower of peroxide explosive vapor and single-microgram-sized particulates of HME residue; and high specificity with a false alarm rate well below 5%. The operationally safe system will require no consumables, and will consume