High-sensitivity photoacoustic detection of chemical warfare agents

摘要

We report sensitive and selective detection of Diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP)-a decomposition product of Sarin and a common surrogate for the nerve gases-in presence of several gases expected to be interferences in an urban setting. By employing photoacosutic spectroscopy with broadly tunable CO_2 laser as a radiation source we demonstrate detection sensitivity for DIMP in the presence of these interferences of better than 0.5 ppb in 60 second long measurement time, which satisfies most current homeland and military security requirements and validates the photoacoustic spectroscopy as a powerful technology for nerve gas sensing instrumentation.