MODEL BUILDING: The authors' lab at Princeton University has
shown that both the air-laser and the radar REMPI techniques can detect
traces of chemical vapors. Next, the method must be proved to work over a
distance of tens of meters.
About the Authors
Richard B. Miles, Arthur Dogariu, and James B. Michael research optics
at Princeton University. Miles is a professor of mechanical and
aerospace engineering, Dogariu is a research scientist, and Michael is a
graduate student. They measure subsonic and supersonic air motion with
lasers and microwaves, accelerating air with surface electric
discharges, magnetic fields, and electron beams, and speeding up flames
with microwaves. Their work led them to use lasers for standoff
detection. In short, "we work on air," Miles says.