A TRANSPORTABLE INSTRUMENT FOR REAL-TIME ON SITE ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP A UNIVERSAL, TRANSPORTABLE INSTRUMENT FOR REAL-TIME IDENTIFICATION AND MONITORING OF HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS, IN BOTH GASEOUS AND AQUEOUS ENVIRONMENTS, FOR AIR FORCE APPLICATIONS. THE PROPOSED INSTRUMENT WOULD BE BASED ON NEAR-INFRARED SURFACE ENHANCED RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY (NIR-SERS). THE ON-SITE, REAL-TIME ANALYSIS CAPABILITIES IN BOTH GASEOUS AND LIQUID ENVIRONMENTS OF THE INSTRUMENT WILL PROVE A SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT IN BOTH TIME AND COST OVER CONVENTIONAL MONITORING METHODS. THE NIR-SERS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH A NEW SPECTROMETER DESIGN BASED ON HADAMARD TRANSORM MULTIPLEXING TECHNIQUE AND NEAR INFRARED EXCITATION USING A DIODE PUMPED ND:YAG LASER. THE PHASE I OBJECTIVE IS TO DEMONSTRATE A PROTOTYPE NIR-HT-SERS INSTRUMENT AND ITS APPLICATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING. PHASE II WOULD HAVE THE GOAL OF DEVELOPING AND FIELD TESTING A ROBUST, PORTABLE INSTRUMENTATION USING COMPACT SOLID STATE LASER SOURCES AND A FIBER OPTIC EXCITATION/COLLECTION SYSTEM.