Patent ID: 8748846
Filing Date: 2014-06-10
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for identifying a presence of a nitro (NO)-bearing compound suspected of being included in a sample, comprising: photodissociating a sample into one or more fragments that include a NO molecule, said NO molecule having an electron in a first-vibrational excited state of an electronic ground state; employing laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) comprising directing UV light from a UV laser source at said sample to induce emission of fluorescent light; and detecting said fluorescent light at an emission wavelength of 270 to 274 nm to identify a presence of said NO-bearing compound in said sample, wherein said detecting comprises shot differencing including: generating a first plurality of shots having said sample present, generating a second plurality of shots not having said sample present, and obtaining difference signals by subtracting counts from said second plurality of shots from counts obtained from said first plurality of shots.