Application of synchrotron radiation based techniques in forensic science

Abstract

Synchrotron radiation sources have proven to be highly beneficial in many fields of research for the characterization of materials. Recently also forensic science community have started to appreciate the extraordinary brilliance, very broad spectral range and other features of synchrotron radiation. This is an area in which the analytical benefits provided by synchrotron sources could prove to be extremely important. This chapter summarises the applications of synchrotron radiation based methods in a forensic investigation context. The benefits of synchrotron radiation are discussed for Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy and microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and briefly X-ray absorption spectroscopy(XAS), X-ray diffraction, scattering and imaging techniques. The application for forensic science include identification of post-blast explosive residues, analysis of latent human fingerprints for contamination by gunshot residues, illegal drugs or explosive materials. These techniques could be also extremely helpful in the investigation of the samples collected at crime scenes for identification of drugs, paint chips, tiny glass fragments, fabrics and polymers fibres, inks, hair dyes etc. In light of the great sensitivity, non-destructiveness and high spatial resolution the use of synchrotron radiation based techniques allows to obtain valuable results and is likely to play an even greater role in the future of foren-sics. © 2012 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.