Anti-explosive sensor is the future of defence. The recent discovery of explosives on board cargo planes, hidden in shipments originating from Yemen, has once again stressed the need to find a fast and accurate method to detect the presence of professional or homemade bombs on planes and not only.
The Perfect Anti-explosive Sensor Out There
Currently, this task is entrusted to the highly sensitive sense of smell of dogs, which can detect the presence of drugs or explosives, even if hidden or masked by other odors in the environment. Unfortunately, finding the right dog is not always easy, and the training program can be very expensive.
To provide a reliable and accurate alternative to the nose of a dog, a team of scientists from Tel Aviv University has developed an anti explosive sensor, according to its creators, is more sensitive and more reliable than any sniffer dog.
This anti-explosive sensor is able to detect the presence of several types of explosives, not least TNT, which is currently being searched by using expensive equipment, bulky and which requires a long time and the presence of an expert to provide the results of its job.
With the creation of such a handy tool, with a limited cost and that provides reliable and immediate results, the process of security checks at airports, ports and shipping hubs, for passengers, luggage and goods, would greatly speed up and achieve an improved efficiency, with obvious benefits for safety of flights and of air, land and naval transport.
The device consists of silicon nanowires which are grouped together to form a nanotransistor. Bringing together more than 200 of these sensors, it is therefore possible to analyze and detect the presence of a wide range of explosives and chemicals, even at a distance of several meters, which allows the sensor to be used to analyze multiple elements at the same time, with a zero error margin.