Washington, April 10 (IANS) Laser based chemical sensors currently under development will sniff out TNT and take the hazard out of bomb detection. The remote detection scheme relies on highly sensitive, low-cost, battery-free, thin-film sensors that require no electronic equipment or excitation source at the sites where they are installed.

Conventional chemical TNT sensors have no remote capability and must be used close to the site of the suspected bomb, risking the lives of military personnel.

The new system, under development at the University of Michigan, uses laser-based methods to directly detect TNT, with no sensors on site.

These findings were presented at national meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans Wednesday.