Laser-like sensors could sniff out hidden explosives.
Graham Turnbull, a physicist at the University of St Andrew’s in Fife, UK, and colleagues have developed a device that uses a film of polyfluorene, a plastic that emits laser light when bathed in photons. It also reacts with the vapours given off by explosives such as TNT. This reduces the amount of coherent light the film produces, revealing the presence of the explosive.
The device can detect TNT-like molecules at concentrations of less than 10 parts per billion in a matter of seconds. A blast of nitrogen gas is all that’s needed…
