Remote Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) + Laser Induced Thermal (Infared) Emission (LITE) Detection System for In-situ Surface Contaminant Mapping and Identification

In-situ detection and identification of trace explosives and hazardous compounds including chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial materials on operational surfaces is vital for the U.S. Army. A novel all-optical technique, LIBS + LITE shows promising potentials in standoff in-situ chemical-biological detection in the operation field due to their excellent versatility and operational simplicity. LIBS + LITE spectrometer rapidly identifies the contaminants with absolute precision in a warzone or hazardous civilian area meters away without any sample preparation required. This proposed LIBS + LITE instrument will be an integrated system that mounts the LIBS + LITE detector units on an unmanned aerial systems and synchronizes the flight path of the UAS and the excitation laser beam to probe the contaminated surface. This design would protect the reconnaissance platforms from contamination due to contact with the chemical hazard. The proposed detection system will be the first laser ablation atomic and molecular detection system with rapid remote interrogation and geospatial mapping capabilities of surface contamination.