Using lasers and tuning forks, researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a chemical weapon agent sensing technique that promises to meet or exceed current and emerging defense and homeland security chemical detection requirements. The miniature quartz tuning forks (shown on the left, below the dime), are 4 millimeters long, 2 millimeters wide and 0.3 millimeter thick, and several quantum cascade lasers (shown on the right, below the dime) can fit on a 3 x 3 millimeter chip. A conceptual design for a battery-operated, prototype sensor, which includes 10 pairs of QCLs and tuning forks, would fit into a box that is 12 inches long, 12 inches wide and 6 inches high.
Click here to download a TIFF image for pasting into presentations
PC Users: click on the link above with your right mouse button and select "save link as" or "save target as" to download image.
Mac Users: position your cursor on the link above, hold down the option key and click then select "save link as" or "save target as".
Click here to download the original submitted image
PC Users: click on the link above with your right mouse button and select "save link as" or "save target as" to download image.
Mac Users: position your cursor on the link above, hold down the option key and click then select "save link as" or "save target as".
| Document Title: | Quantum cascade lasers and miniature tuning forks |
| Category: | Security: Local-National-International |
| Media Type: | Photos |
| Date of Image/Photo: | |
| Background: | |
| URL of this page: | http://picturethis.pnl.gov/picturet.nsf/by+id/DRAE-6YVN,L |