Recent Developments in Spectroscopic Techniques for the Detection of Explosives

Trace detection of explosives has been an ongoing challenge for decades and has become one of several critical problems in defense science; public safety; and global counter-terrorism. As a result, there is a growing interest in employing a wide variety of approaches to detect trace explosive residues. Spectroscopy-based techniques play an irreplaceable role for the detection of energetic substances due to the advantages of rapid, automatic, and non-contact. The present work provides a comprehensive review of the advances made over the past few years in the fields of the applications of terahertz (THz) spectroscopy; laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Raman spectroscopy; and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) for trace explosives detection. Furthermore, the advantages and limitations of various spectroscopy-based detection techniques are summarized. Finally, the future development for the detection of explosives is discussed.