Quantum Dot Bar Codes For Target Tagging(1000-685)

Triton Systems Inc. will use semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) as spectral target markers for small munitions. These are high yield fluorescent materials with some unique advantages: they are resistant to bleaching, they have high quantum yields and large extinction cross sections, and their emission band is narrow but their absorption spectrum is broad. Because of this, multiple species of QDs can be used in the tag to create a unique signature which can positively identify labeled targets with a low probability for false alarms. The quantum dots will be engineered into an inorganic matrix to impart stability during the blast and during subsequent weathering. They will be interrogated with a laser and recorded spectroscopically. The feasibility of observing this from 20,000 feet and against a daylight background is considered.