Influence of spatial differential reflection parameters on 2,4,6- trinitrotoluene (TNT) absorption spectra

Differential reflectometry has been shown to be a sensitive and fast tool to detect explosive substances on surfaces such as luggage and parcel. This paper elucidates the influence of several parameters on the sensitivity of the technique. An expression for the reflected intensity that contains the influence of angle of incidence, wavelength of the incident light, and surface roughness has been established. The feature used to identify and detect TNT stems mainly from the diffuse component of the reflected light. This spectral "finger-print" shape does not change by varying these parameters. The maximum sensitivity is obtained for samples which are strongly diffusive and weakly specular.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.