Fast Laser Pulse Shaping for Molecular Control and CB Detection

Monitoring the air for potential chemical and biological agents (from terrorist threats or from industrial contamination) has become a necessity. Our proposal objective is to develop device capable of fast (1 second), accurate (even in a chemically complex environment), robust (stand alone, closed-loop, and portable), and reproducible sensing. Operationally, the device interfaces with a commercially available femtosecond pulsed laser and mass spectrometry module. The device operates on the principle of molecular control based on shaped laser fields. Using genetic-algorithm (GA) search methods, a series of laser fields are determined to unequivocally identify each chemical or biological agent of interest. The stand-alone unit monitors for suspected chemical agents. Multiple electromagnetic fields increase the accuracy of chemical identification a million-fold compared to available sensor methods. Upon positive identification, the unit contacts a command center. The goal, for phase I will be to demonstrate that differently shaped laser fields produce uniquely different fragmentation mass spectra, and that such fields can be determined for each chemical or biological sample. Phase II of the project will concentrate on the development of a field-ready stand-alone module capable of detection of contaminants at part per billion levels even in the presence of a chemically complex environment.