New Sensor Detects Gaseous Chemical Weapon Surrogates in 45 Seconds

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Using lasers and tuning forks, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists have developed a chemical weapon agent sensing technique that promises to meet or exceed current and emerging defense and homeland security chemical detection requirements. The technique, called Quartz Laser Photo-Acoustic Sensing, or "QPAS," is now ready for prototyping and field testing. PNNL has demonstrated QPAS's ability to detect gaseous nerve agent surrogates. The instrument is based on Laser Photo-Acoustic Sensing and infrared Quantum Cascade Lasers.

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