title: Chemical-specific imaging of shallowly buried objects using femtosecond laser pulses.
abstract: We demonstrate that objects buried in sand (1 to 4 mm deep) may be selectively imaged according to their chemical composition through spectral analysis of the laser-induced breakdown signal. The signal is generated by loosely focused femtosecond laser pulses having energies ranging from 0.5 to 2.5 mJ. We determine the depth from which a spectral signal may be measured as a function of pulse energy. Having in mind applications to remote sensing, chemical-specific imaging of shallowly buried objects may find use in various fields ranging from space exploration to landmine detection.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4242, USA. bstryck2@physics.tamu.edu
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Strycker
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Springer
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Sokolov