Army Seeks Super-Sniffer to Detect Explosives, Bio-Agents

Coverage of the new technology of metamaterialshas tended to focus on the possibility of a real-life invisibility cloak. That kind of application is a long way off, but in the much shorter term the Army is developing new materials to build an ultra-sensitive sensor capable of detecting the faintest trace of a scent: a nose like no other. SERS means a detector can pick up the tiniest traces of a substance in the air; in theory, one could detect a single molecule. Early work used a simple roughened surface to capture plasmons, but AMRDEC would take the technology to a new level by the precise fabrication of a metal surface. Other possible applications might include spotting explosives from a distance -- warning of the presence of a booby trap, car bomb or suicide vest.