Sensitive and Shape-Specific Molecular Identification

The ability to rapidly detect, identify and monitor chemical agents remains a challenge of significant importance to the Armed Forces. Existing chemical sensing techniques have shortcomings that inhibit widespread implementation. To address this situation, Ryon Technologies is developing a portable instrument that is based on Rydberg Fingerprint Spectroscopy (RFS) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS). The dual detection of the RFS signal and the MS signal provides a two-dimensional readout where each molecule is positively identified through its mass and its structural fingerprint. This unique approach ensures that all molecules can be unambiguously identified, allowing the monitoring for chemical agents without false alarms. Because of the inherent sensitivity of detecting charged particles, very minute amounts of material will be possible to analyze. The development focuses on reducing all dimensions of the apparatus, including the vacuum envelope and the sample inlet. Through computational modeling the design is optimized for maximum sensitivity with the minimum number of parts.