COMPACT RAMAN DETECTOR FOR CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS BASED ON NOVEL SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES

PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION (POC) PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A NOVEL REAL-TIME FIBER OPTIC RAMAN DETECTOR CAPABLE OF DETECTING LIQUID OR SOLID CONTAMINANTS AT SHORT DISTANCES. THIS NEW DETECTOR WILL BE BASED ON NEW OPTICAL COMPONENTS AND NOVEL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES. THE DETECTOR WILL HAVE THE ADVANTAGES OF REAL-TIME OPERATION COMBINED WITH SENSITIVITY EQUAL TO THAT OFFERED BY CONVENTIONAL SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES, ALL THAT AT SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS. THE ADVANTAGES OF POC'S RAMAN DETECTOR DERIVE FROM THE NOVEL TECHNIQUES OF HOLOGRAPHIC FILTERING, NON-IMAGING BEAM TRANSFORMATIONS AND WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING. THE RESULTING DETECTOR WILL BE EXTREMELY COMPACT AND HIGHLY RUGGED, REQUIRING LITTLE MAINTENANCE. THUS, POC'S DETECTOR WILL BE VERY EASY TO DEPLOY UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS. IT WILL BE CAPABLE OF DETECTING VARIOUS CONTAMINANTS AT LOW CONCENTRATIONS, BELOW THE PART PER MILLION (PPM) RANGE. THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN THE MOST ADVANCED FIELD DEPLOYABLE RAMAN DETECTION TECHNOLOGY.