A new explosives detector with incredible sensitivity and a range of up to 100 meters could save lives and thwart the efforts of terrorists. With PIAS, based on photo-induced acoustic spectroscopy, the military and law enforcement agencies will have an instrument that is one-tenth the size of competing products, at five pounds is one-fifth the weight and is about one-fifth the cost of the competition. PIAS, developed by a team of researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, works by illuminating the suspected explosive with an eye-safe laser and allowing the scattered light to be detected by a quartz crystal tuning fork. After a series of subsequent steps, the instrument is able to identify a number of explosives without jeopardizing the safety of the operator. Funding for this research was provided by the Department of Energy's Office of Nonproliferation Research and Development and the Office of Naval Research.
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