An explosion is a complex event involving quickly changing temperatures, pressures and chemical concentrations. In a paper in the Journal of Applied Physics a special type of infrared laser, known as a swept-wavelength external cavity quantum cascade laser (swept-ECQCL), is used to study explosions. This versatile instrument has a broad wavelength tuning range that allows the measurement of multiple chemical substances, even large molecules, in an explosive fireball.
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Source: Phys.org