Thermobaric Explosives Modified to Emit Ultraviolet Radiation

It is proposed to achieve partial conversion of the visible emission spectrum of burning aluminum into the ultraviolet range. This work is motivated by the search for effective means to defeat biological weapons by munitions employing ultraviolet germicidal radiation (UVGI). It is proposed that aluminized thermobaric formulations can be modified to deploy airborne particulates with nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. These particles will interact with the radiation emitted by burning Al - particularly the emission by AlO at 510 nm. Via the effect of second harmonic generation widely exploited in ultraviolet lasers, the NLO particles are expected to partially convert the AlO emission to radiation with one half of the original wavelength. The resulting radiation at 255 nm is in the UVGI range. It is further proposed to generate NLO particles in situ during thermobaric explosion. This becomes possible when highly reactive energetic nanocomposite precursors to NLO materials are employed as constituents of the modified thermobaric charges. Specifically, nanocomposite precursors to NLO-active BaB2O4 will be prepared by arrested reactive milling, a technique effective for the synthesis of nanothermites. The nanocomposite precursors are expected to form the NLO active particles via a thermite-like reaction during the thermobaric explosion. The proposed novel concept has the potential to lead to the development of highly effective, mass-produced antibiological munitions