Heightens Bomb Detection Sensitivity Tiny Laser Sensor (Optical Sensor)
Berkeley, CA -- A team of researchers led by Xiang Zhang, UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering, has found a way to dramatically increase the sensitivity of a light-based plasmon sensor to detect incredibly minute concentrations of explosives. They noted that it could potentially be used to sniff out a hard-to-detect explosive popular among terrorists. Their findings are to be published Sunday, July 20, in the advanced online publication of the journal Nature Nanotechnology. They put the sensor to the test with various explosives - 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), ammonium nitrate and nitrobenzene - and found that the device successfully detected the airborne chemicals at concentrations of 0.67 parts per billion, 0.4 parts per billion and 7.2 parts per million, respectively. One part per billion would be akin to a blade of grass on a football field. The researchers noted that this is much more sensitive than the published results to date for other optical sensors. "O...