A system (100) for detecting explosive materials. The system (100) includes at least one high power electromagnetic transmitter (108) configured to radiate high power electromagnetic radiation (120) at one or more frequencies in the millimeter wave spectrum or above to interact with a sample (104) and be reflected therefrom. The system (100) also includes at least one electromagnetic sensor (116) to measure emissions (124) at harmonic frequencies and characteristics unique to one or more explosive materials. The system (100) also includes a processor (112) to collate and maintain a lookup table to identify specific explosive material types.