SBIR Phase II: A Spectroscopic THz Sensor for Mixed Gas Analysis and Air Pollution Monitoring

SBIR 第二阶段：用于混合气体分析和空气污染监测的光谱太赫兹传感器

• 批准号: 1831168
• 负责人: Joseph Demers
• 金额: $ 72.4万
• 依托单位: Bakman Technologies LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-15 至 2021-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1831168&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Spectroscopic; THz

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to create an economical, light‐weight, high performance Terahertz (THz) spectrometer to allow testing of air and fossil fuels for the presence of harmful compounds. A frequency domain THz spectrometer is capable of characterizing the different molecules and chemicals in a gas sample. Historically these spectrometers have been relegated to the laboratory because of their size and complexity but recent technical advancements have made it possible to build a spectroscopic THz sensor small enough and light enough to be flown on a consumer drone. The reductions in size and cost have opened the door to using THz sensors for emissions testing of ships entering U.S. waters or contaminant testing of fossil fuels at petroleum processing facilities. This is significant because the ability to analyze samples locally removes the time and expense of collecting and shipping potentially dangerous compounds (i.e. flammable compounds or pollutants) to a laboratory for analysis. It also allows detection and classification to occur on short notice and without the need to subject personnel to the local environment. The proposed project will produce the first article of a compact, battery operated, autonomously operating spectroscopic THz sensor capable of mixed gas analysis to parts per million sensitivities. It will be constructed predominantly from economical off‐the‐shelf fiber optic components in a novel highly compact, light‐weight form factor. In order to achieve the high sensitivities, the spectroscopic THz sensor will incorporate: high fidelity lasers from the telecommunications industry, custom designed and fabricated high efficiency, hermetically sealed photomixers, a folded, light‐weight, carbon fiber sample cell incorporating patented 3D printed mirror technology and a patented optical phase‐modulation technique that removes the effects of coherent detection. The instrument will first be employed for laboratory based measurements of sulfur-containing contaminants in gas flows. Upon the successful demonstration of the capabilities of the instrument, a first article will be used in initial testing and collaborative field work. Sales of a larger laboratory instrument based on the same technology will begin simultaneously.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是创造经济的轻度，重量，高性能Terahertz（THZ）光谱仪，以允许对有害化合物的空气和化石燃料进行测试。频域Thz光谱仪能够表征气体样品中不同分子和化学物质。从历史上看，这些光谱仪由于其大小和复杂性而被降级为实验室，但最近的技术进步使得可以建造光谱THZ传感器足够小，并且轻便地在消费者无人机上飞行。降低和成本的降低为使用THZ传感器进行了进入美国水域的船舶的排放或在石油加工设施上对化石燃料进行污染的船只打开了大门。这很重要，因为分析样品的能力可以消除收集和运输潜在危险化合物（即易燃化合物或污染物）的时间和费用，以进行分析。它还允许在短时间内进行检测和分类，而无需为当地环境提供对象。拟议的项目将生产第一个紧凑，电池操作，自主操作的光谱THZ传感器，能够将气体分析与每百万个敏感性的零件混合。它将主要是由经济的OFF＆＃8208;架子纤维光纤组件中的构建，这是一种新型的高度紧凑，轻度的重量外形。 In order to achieve the high sensitivities, the spectroscopic THz sensor will incorporate: high fidelity lasers from the telecommunications industry, custom designed and fabricated high efficiency, hermetically sealed photomixers, a folded, light‐weight, carbon fiber sample cell incorporating patented 3D printed mirror technology and a patented optical phase‐modulation technique that removes the effects of相干检测。该仪器将首先用于基于实验室的气流中含硫污染物的测量。在成功展示了该仪器能力后，将在初始测试和协作现场工作中使用第一篇文章。基于相同技术的较大实验室工具的销售将同时开始。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准，被认为值得通过评估来获得支持。