Investigation of molecular and elemental species dynamics in NTO, TNT, and ANTA using femtosecond LIBS technique

Abstract

We present results from the elemental and molecular species dynamics of high energy materials (HEMs) studied using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy with femtosecond (fs) laser pulses. Spectral emission behavior of atomic and molecular species of HEMs such as NTO (3-nitro-l,2,4-triazol-5-one), TNT (tri-nitro toluene) and ANTA (5-amino-3-nitro-1H-1,2,4-triazole) were studied in different atmospheres of Argon, Nitrogen, and ambient air. We used fs pulses (~40 fs, 2.5 mJ, 1 kHz) for creating the breakdown. CN and C2 molecular species were formed from these organic molecules during the breakdown. These molecular species are key signatures of organics substances for identification of HEMs. ©2013 SPIE.