Scientists Developed New Laser to help Detect Roadside Bombs

Researchers at Michigan State University developed a new laser which can accurately detects roadside bombs and helps identify improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The laser combines short pulses that cause molecules in the explosive to vibrate. Every kind of molecule has different vibrational frequencies that uniquely find the substance.However, the new laser can make these distinctions even for quantities as small as a fraction of a billionth of a gram.

The research was funded by the United State Department of Homeland Security and it was published in the journal Applied Physics Letters. The laser has the sensitivity and selectivity to look into large areas and detect improvised explosive devices, which cause 60 percent of coalition soldiers’ deaths in Afghanistan.