Analysis of Raman Spectral Characteristics of Chemical Warfare Agents by Using 248‐nm UV Raman Spectroscopy

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are extremely toxic and fatal to humans. It is required to quickly identify the released chemical agents and warn against the CWAs for protecting human life. The primary CWA contamination due to attacks occurs mostly on the ground surface, and Raman spectroscopy can quickly identify CWA on the surface in a non‐contact manner. In particular, the interference can be reduced by avoiding the fluorescence of materials on the surface while increasing the Raman‐scattering intensity with the excitation light source of deep ultra violet (UV) smaller than 250 nm. In this study, the Raman spectra of 18 chemical agents, including major CWAs, were measured using a Raman spectroscopy system with 248‐nm deep‐UV light source, and the spectral characteristics of each agent were analyzed. From the results, we confirmed that deep‐UV Raman spectroscopy could be the main method for quickly and accurately detecting and identifying CWA contamination.