Detection of Stochastic Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Signals

Nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) is a solid-state radio frequency (RF) spectroscopic technique, allowing the detection of compounds containing quadrupolar nuclei, a requirement fulfilled by many high explosives and narcotics. The practical use of NQR is restricted by the inherently low signal- to-noise ratio of the observed signals, indicating a need for more effective techniques. The current literature focuses on the use of conventional, multiple-pulsed NQR (cNQR) to obtain signals. Here, we investigate an alternative method called stochastic NQR, having many advantages over cNQR, also proposing several detection strategies for the method. The presented detectors are evaluated on both simulated and measured trinitrotoluene (TNT) data.