A High Performance, Low Mass, XPS for Biosignature Detection

The innovation in this proposal is a new class of electron spectrometers that provide a significant improvement in detector efficiency and result in a system that can provide at least a 50x improvement over current technology. The analyzer design is based on an electric dispersion and an immersion front end optic. The improved performance will allow a chemical analysis tool with low mass and power requirements that will be planetary mission suitable. This tool will be suitable for understanding the chemistry of geophysical materials plus provide an ability to detect signs of life or pre-biotic processes. The ability to determine chemical state in addition to elemental composition of materials with no a priori knowledge of the materials will provide a robust experimental capability for extracting information. A previous study (NAS#-02052) showed a low mass and power instrument is expected with good detector efficiency, with the use of low power x-ray sources and the exciting pump technology now being developed in a NASA SBIR program. The final goal of the program will be to deliver a prototype XPS with a mass less than 10 kg that consumes less than 10 watts.