Detection of bio-chemicals for UV-LIF Lidar application

Abstract

Laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy in the ultraviolet (UV-LIF) regime has been used for the detection of bio-chemicals like tyrosine, tryptophan, NADH through a fiber coupled CCD detector. It is observed that the spectrum of the mixture of these bio-chemicals resembles more with that of the tryptophan. The effect of concentration and laser excitation energy on the fluorescence spectra of tryptophan has been investigated. Detection limit with the proposed set-up is found to be one ppm. The study is a part of development of UV-LIF LIDAR system for the standoff detection of biological warfare agents.