Hand-Held Raman Analyzer for Chemical Identification

The overall goal of this proposed program (through Phase III) is to build a hand-held Raman analyzer that can perform non-contact identification of chemicals in the field. This will be accomplished by modifying a commercially available FT-Raman analyzer to employ 976 or 1064 nm laser excitation. Feasibility will be demonstrated in Phase I by comparing the ability of three Raman systems using laser excitation at 785, 976, and 1064 nm to measure some 50 chemicals in terms of fluorescence and thermal emission minimization, and identification of unknowns using spectral matching algorithms. During Phase II an ~ 10 pound hand-held Raman analyzer will be designed and built that includes a comprehensive spectral library of actual chemical warfare agents, explosives, and toxic industrial chemicals; and employs a Personnel Digital Assistant for analyzer control that includes spectral acquisition and spectral matching with statistics to allow chemical identification in real-time (< 5 minutes). The analyzer will employ a simple to operate user-interface, and will be delivered at the end of the program.