APPLICATIONS OF COHERENT RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY BACTERIAL SPORE DETECTION VIA OPTIMIZED PULSE CONFIGURATION
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The anxiety caused by anthrax scares that turned out to be false alarms was further aggravated by the length of time required to analyze the powderlike substance. The need for real-time detection methods, local and remote, became apparent. It triggered a large-scale search for suitable techniques in different fields of expertise, including biology, chemistry, nanoengineering, and laser spectroscopy. The most prominent biological methods are polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunoassays. PCR employs primers to separate organic-specific nucleic acid sequences and polymerases to amplify the segment until it is detectable. The chapter explores the possibilities of using coherent Raman spectroscopy for real-time detection of biohazards. By exciting vibrational coherence on more than one Raman transition simultaneously, we are aiming for a robust and definitive means to obtain a molecule-specific signal and use it for species identification. In particular, it concentrates on detection of dipicolinic acid (DPA), known to be a marker molecule for bacterial spores. It considers time- and frequency-resolved techniques for coherent Raman spectroscopy and ways to adapt those for this particular application. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
