Portable Raman device for detection of chemical and biological warfare agents
This paper describes a compact, self-contained, cost effective, and portable Raman Integrated Tunable Sensor (RAMiTs) for screening a wide variety of chemical and biological agents for homeland defense applications. The instrument is a fully-integrated, tunable, "point-and-shoot" Raman monitor based on solid-state acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) technology. It can provide direct identification and quantitative analysis of chemical and biological samples in a few seconds under field conditions. It also consists of a 830-nm diode laser for excitation, and an avalanche photodiode for detection. Evaluation of this instrument has been performed by analyzing several standard samples and comparing the results those obtained using a conventional Raman system. In addition to system evaluation, this paper will also discuss potential applications of the RAMiTs for detection of chemical and biological warfare agents.
