Ultraviolet Raman Wide-Field Hyperspectral Imaging Spectrometer for Standoff Trace Explosive Detection

We constructed the first deep ultraviolet (UV) Raman standoff wide-field imaging spectrometer. Our novel deep UV imaging spectrometer utilizes a photonic crystal to select Raman spectral regions for detection. The photonic crystal is composed of highly charged, monodisperse 35.5 ± 2.9 nm silica nanoparticles that self-assemble in solution to produce a face centered cubic crystalline colloidal array that Bragg diffracts a narrow ∼1.0 nm full width at half-maximum (FWHM) UV spectral region. We utilize this photonic crystal to select and image two different spectral regions containing resonance Raman bands of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and NH4NO3 (AN). These two deep UV Raman spectral regions diffracted were selected by angle tuning the photonic crystal. We utilized this imaging spectrometer to measure 229 nm excited UV Raman images containing ∼10–1000 µg/cm2 samples of solid PETN and AN on aluminum surfaces at 2.3 m standoff distances. We estimate detection limits of ∼1 µg/cm2 for PETN and AN films under these experimental conditions.