Photoacoustic spectroscopy system and technique for remote sensing of explosives and toxic chemicals
First Claim
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1. A photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) system for remote sensing of explosives, toxic chemicals, and biological agents, or other material, comprising:
- a tunable laser for transmitting optical energy comprising laser pulses at a selected frequency to a remote target comprising explosives, toxic chemicals, biological agents, or other material, and causing acoustic signals to be emitted from the target;
a pulse generator comprising a chopper operating at a frequency selected on the basis of background noise for generating pulses to said tunable laser;
a sensor for detecting acoustical signals from the target;
a reflector for receiving acoustic signals from the target and focusing the acoustic signals to a focal area comprising said sensor;
a resonator for reducing acoustic interference and amplifying the acoustic signals; and
data acquisition and analysis equipment operatively connected and cooperating with said sensor, reflector, resonator, tunable laser, and pulse generator, for determining information about the target.
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Abstract
A user-friendly photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) system and process (technique) provides an open-field PAS instrument, unit and device to remotely sense explosives, chemicals and biological agents. The PAS system and process can include: a pulsed tunable laser, such as a CO2 laser, a reflector, such as a parabolic reflector, an acoustic reverberant resonator in which a microphone is installed, and a data acquisition and analysis system.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) system for remote sensing of explosives, toxic chemicals, and biological agents, or other material, comprising:
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a tunable laser for transmitting optical energy comprising laser pulses at a selected frequency to a remote target comprising explosives, toxic chemicals, biological agents, or other material, and causing acoustic signals to be emitted from the target; a pulse generator comprising a chopper operating at a frequency selected on the basis of background noise for generating pulses to said tunable laser; a sensor for detecting acoustical signals from the target; a reflector for receiving acoustic signals from the target and focusing the acoustic signals to a focal area comprising said sensor; a resonator for reducing acoustic interference and amplifying the acoustic signals; and data acquisition and analysis equipment operatively connected and cooperating with said sensor, reflector, resonator, tunable laser, and pulse generator, for determining information about the target. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) process for remote sensing of explosives, toxic chemicals, and biological agents, or other material, comprising:
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transmitting optical energy comprising laser pulses at a selected frequency from a tunable laser to a remote target comprising explosives, toxic chemicals, biological agents, or other material; emitting acoustic signals from the target; scanning background noise; operating a pulse generator comprising a chopper at a frequency in a region of least noise selected on the basis of the scanned background noise; generating pulses to the tunable laser; detecting acoustical signals from the target with a sensor; receiving acoustic signals from the target on a reflector; focusing the acoustic signals to a focal area comprising the sensor; reducing acoustic interference with a resonator; amplifying the acoustic signals; adjusting the resonator to resonate the frequency of the chopper; and determining information about the target with data acquisition and analysis equipment. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification