THE NEED FOR SENSITIVE, SELECTIVE,STABLE, AND LOW COST GAS SENSORS WHICH CAN BE USED FOR IN SITE MONITORING OF AN ENVIRONMENT HAS NEVER BEEN ADEQUATELY FULFILLED.

THE NEED FOR SENSITIVE, SELECTIVE,STABLE, AND LOW COST GAS SENSORS WHICH CAN BE USED FOR IN SITE MONITORING OF AN ENVIRONMENT HAS NEVER BEEN ADEQUATELY FULFILLED. TO MEET THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GAS SENSORS, APA OPTICS WILL UTILIZE INTEGRATED OPTICS TECHNOLOGY TO IMPLEMENT INFRARED ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY ON A MICROSCOPIC SCALE. THE PRIMARY TECHNOLOGY ISSUE CONCERNING THE PROPOSED INTEGRATED OPTIC DEVICE FOR GAS SENSING INVOLVES DEMONSTRATING THE FEASIBILITY OF FABRICATING THE INFRARED SOURCE AND DETECTOR ASMINIATURE, INTEGRATED COMPONENTS. PHASE I PROGRAM OBJECTIVES INCLUDE THE DESIGN, FABRICATION AND EVALUATION OF THIN FILM INFRARED RADIATIONSOURCE AND DETECTOR TEST STRUCTURES. THE EFFICIENCY OF THE COUPLING OF INFRARED RADIATION INTO AND OUT OF A THIN FILM WAVEGUIDE USING THE INTEGRATED INFRARED SOURCE AND DETECTOR STRUCTURES WILL ALSO BE EVALUATED.