There is currently a critical need for trace explosive detection due to the increased security issues and threats across the world. High-sensitivity detection techniques are needed to avoid missing potentially dangerous objects during routine checks at airports, government buildings and other places at risk of being targeted by terrorists. These devices could also be employed for detecting landmines. A range of optical spectrometric and chemical analytical methods have been investigated for this application [1]. Detection limits at the femtogram level, or a few parts per billion (ppb) by volume, of explosives such as trinitrotoluene (TNT) have been achieved using a number of different techniques. Research in this field continues to try to improve detection limits, speed of responsivity and portability.

Fluorescent polymers are one promising approach for trace explosive sensors [2–6], in particular for sensing nitro-aromatic based explosives. The highly nitrated molecules in these explosives make them electron-deficient so that when these electron acceptors are in contact with electron-rich semiconducting polymers, photoinduced electron transfer occurs between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the polymer and the LUMO of the analyte molecule with lower energy state. This charge transfer causes efficient quenching of the fluorescence. The use of polymer thin films enables a quenching enhancement as a single explosive molecule can quench many chromophores, both on the same and neighboring polymer chains. However, a disadvantage of a solid film is that diffusion of the analyte into the film can be very slow.

In this paper we explore the effect of using a microporous polymer to address this issue—a soluble polymer of intrinsic microporosity (polybenzodioxane PIM-1) [7,8]. The microporosity of the polymer forms as a result of the rigidity of the macromolecular chain and its contorted structure [9]. This polymer and related PIMs have been used in the past as robust gas separation membranes [10–13], a trace organic volatiles indicator [14] and a pre-concentrator trap for trace explosive vapors [15]. For this investigation, we show that PIM-1 can be used as a light-emitting material within a sensor for trace vapours of nitro-aromatic molecules. The porosity in PIM-1, which aids the penetration of the analyte molecules, has potential to allow rapid responsivity and ultra-low concentration detection. We show that photoluminescence (PL) from the polymer is quenched by the introduction of the vapours and explore its ability to accumulate the analyte.

In addition, stimulated emission from the polymer allows enhancement of the detected signals, which is critical for successfully sensing trace amounts of explosives. As well as studying PL quenching, we also explore the feasibility of making a laser from PIM-1 and using it for explosive detection and investigate the change in laser output due to the analyte binding to the gain medium. This approach has been used successfully for solid films [3,4,16] but data on response time is extremely limited.

The nitroaromatic analyte used in the investigation was 1,4-dinitrobenzene (DNB)—which we use as a model for the explosive TNT due to their similar characteristics (i.e., nitro-aromaticity and strong electron-deficiency [2]). The chemical structures of PIM-1 and DNB are shown in Figure 1. A PIM-1 film of 340 nm thickness (measured with a Veeco Dektak 150 surface profiler) was spin-coated from chloroform solution (30 mg/mL) onto a planar fused silica substrate. Absorption and PL spectra were recorded using a Cary 300 Bio UV-Vis spectrophotometer and a HORIBA Jobin-Yvon FluoroMax2 fluorometer, respectively. The photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) in solid state was measured using an integrating sphere [17] in a Hamamatsu Photonics C9920-02 measurement system [18].

In the photoluminescence (PL) sensing experiments, the PIM-1 thin films were excited by a pulsed Nd:YVO₄ microchip laser at 355 nm at 1 kHz repetition rate and the emission spectra from the films were monitored with a fibre-coupled grating spectrograph and a charge-coupled device (CCD) detector. To facilitate exposure to DNB, the PIM-1 thin films were placed inside an optical chamber connected to a gas port with two gas supplies allowing us to flow either DNB vapor or clean nitrogen over the sample, as shown in Figure 2. An exhaust port from the chamber was connected to a bubbler. This configuration has been shown to give a DNB vapor pressure of ∼10 ppb by volume [4].

To measure the dynamic response of the sensing process, the chamber was first purged with clean nitrogen and the gas port was then switched to the DNB vapor. For continuous exposure experiments the dynamics of the PL emission were monitored for the first 3 min. The emission from the same film was then also measured after a 30-min exposure. Additionally, a cumulative PL sensing scheme was achieved by monitoring the PL emission while switching the gas flow between clean nitrogen and DNB vapor repetitively—alternating the chamber atmosphere between low (∼0 ppb) and ‘high’ (∼10 ppb) DNB.

In order to assess the potential of PIM-1 as a laser gain medium, we measured the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from the edge of the films using the fibre-coupled CCD spectrograph. Optical excitation was from a Nd:YAG laser pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) at 425 nm with 4 ns output pulses with a repetition rate of 20 Hz. A series of calibrated neutral density filters were inserted into the beam path to vary the excitation pulse energy. A cylindrical lens was used to focus the pump beam into a 170 μm wide stripe with a length of 3.19 mm (measured with a Coherent Inc. Beam Profiler) on the surface of the polymer films.

The refractive index of PIM-1 films was measured using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (a J. A. Woollam Co. Inc. M2000-DI ellipsometer was used). A set of seven films of different thickness in the range of 75 nm to 192 nm were prepared by spin coating a PIM-1 solution (chloroform, 20 mg/mL) onto fused silica substrates. The polarization of reflected light was measured for incident angles between 45° and 75° in steps of 5° over the wavelength range of 190 nm to 1,700 nm. Transmission measurements at normal incidence were also taken. Both isotropic and uniaxial Cauchy models were then fitted to the combined reflection and transmission data between 500 nm to 1,700 nm to determine the thickness of the films. With these known thicknesses the refractive index was calculated across the wavelength range of interest. The effective refractive index of the air-polymer-SiO₂ waveguide was also calculated to determine the optimal distributed feedback (DFB) laser configuration.

In order to fabricate a surface emitting DFB laser, a thin film was deposited by spin coating from a 30 mg/mL PIM-1 solution in chloroform onto a corrugated fused silica substrate. These corrugations, formed by two-beam holography provide laser feedback (via second order diffraction) and surface output coupling (via first order diffraction) at a specified wavelength, determined by the Bragg condition [19]: (1) m λ Bragg = 2 n eff Λ         ( m = 2 )λ_Bragg being the wavelength of the light, n_eff the effective refractive index of the thin film waveguide and Λ the period of the corrugated grating. The period of the one-dimensional second-order DFB resonators in the fused silica substrate was 350 nm and the grooves were made 50 nm deep with fill factor of approximately 50%. The PIM-1 laser was optically pumped with 425 nm pulses at 20 Hz repetition rate from the Nd:YAG laser pumped OPO. The pump beam was incident onto the samples at an angle of 20° to the surface normal and was focused to a 1.5 mm diameter spot on the polymer laser; this resulted in an excitation area of 0.0177 cm². The fibre-coupled CCD spectrograph was used to monitor the dynamics of the laser emission perpendicular to the PIM-1 sample in steps of 10 s. In addition, the laser thresholds and slope efficiencies were measured, both before exposure and after a 5-min exposure to 10 ppb DNB vapor.

We have demonstrated that the polymer PIM-1 is a good chemosensor for detecting low vapor pressure (∼10 ppb) DNB vapor. Successful indication of the presence of the analyte, by monitoring the photoluminescence has been achieved. The response accumulates suggesting a very strong interaction between DNB and the microporous polymer and leads to an inherent memory ability, which has the potential for applications requiring an integrated measurement of vapour concentration. These include the tracing of history of exposure during the shipping and storing of sensitive items, an exposure timer and an efficient explosives absorber [15]. Our results also show that the very convenient DFB laser geometry has a significantly enhanced sensing efficiency and much faster responsivity to low vapor pressure explosives detection. A maximum sensing efficiency of 95% was achieved. In conclusion, the combination of ease of processing into thin coatings, its intense fluorescence and microporous structure makes PIM-1 a promising material for use in the inexpensive rapid sensing of ultra-low-concentrations of explosives based on nitrated aromatic compounds.