Non-Intrusive, Chemically-Specific Detection of Explosives

During the Phase I, a lightweight, multilayer coating will be deposited onto copper wire and the wire woven into a mesh. The coating provides a high level of EM shielding, including magnetic shielding, EMP shielding and powers line filtering. The woven mesh will form a flexible shield with similar properties. Draped over existing equipment or used to line the walls, it will provide temporary and reusable EMP protection. Unlike conventional magnetic shielding approaches, which rely on high permeability layers, this coating uses the interaction between a good conductor and the magnetic layer to produce the high absorption. This results in a low cost film with less sensitivity to handling and improved high field performance. Since the wire consists primarily of copper, it retains much of the ductility of copper and can be bent or flexed. Samples of the mesh will be fabricated and measured during the Phase I and the ability of the wire to withstand flexing will be verified. Both the low and high frequency of the braid will be modeled during the program. This mesh will have superior electromagnetic shielding properties and will be of special interest to the military in applications requiring high SE in high fields. Commercial applications will include shielding from hazardous electromagnetic radiation (homes, schools) and sensitive equipment.