AVS 50th International Symposium
    Homeland Security Topical Conference Wednesday Sessions
       Session HS+MM-WeA

Paper HS+MM-WeA4
Characterization of Portal-Based Trace Explosive Detection Systems

Wednesday, November 5, 2003, 3:00 pm, Room 309

Session: Detection of Explosives and Other Chemicals for Homeland Security
Presenter: G. Gillen, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Authors: G. Gillen, National Institute of Standards and Technology
R.A. Fletcher, National Institute of Standards and Technology
S.V. Roberson, National Institute of Standards and Technology
C. Zeissler, National Institute of Standards and Technology
E.S. Etz, National Institute of Standards and Technology
J. Verkouteren, National Institute of Standards and Technology
M. Verkouteren, National Institute of Standards and Technology
E.S. Windsor, National Institute of Standards and Technology
G.A. Klouda, National Institute of Standards and Technology
R.T. Lareau, Transportation Security Administration
Correspondent: Click to Email
In collaboration with the Transportation Security Agency's (TSA) Trace Explosive Detection Group, the NIST Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory (CSTL) has been working to build a chemical metrology program to help support the widespread operational deployment and effective utilization of trace explosives detection devices throughout the United States. A second objective is to develop at NIST the specialized measurement expertise that will be needed to support the next generation of explosive detection equipment. Of particular interest for this work is the characterization of walk-through trace explosive detection portal (TEDP’s) systems currently under evaluation by the TSA. The low volatility of most high explosives makes direct analysis of vapors impractical. Therefore, many detection systems are based on either airborne or surface swipe collection of micrometer-sized explosive particles with subsequent thermal vaporization of the particles into an ion mobility spectrometer for identification. The effective collection and thermal desorption of the explosive particles is the critical front-end process for the successful and reproducible detection of explosives. In order to understand this process in detail we are employing a number of microanalytical techniques including: SIMS and TOF-SIMS, SEM, Raman, Optical and Fluorescence Microscopy, Infrared Thermometry and Optical Particle Counting. These techniques are being used to study, at the single particle level, the collection and removal of individual explosive particles from surfaces and the chemical and morphological changes that occur during sampling. This presentation will review the NIST-TSA project and will present our recent findings with an emphasis on chemical characterization of individual explosive particles.