Development of a Point-and-Shoot Diode Laser Environmental Sensor

Diode laser-based gaseous species sensors have recently begun progressing towards commercial applications in environmental monitoring. Current sensors require highly reflective optical elements (i.e. mirrors and/or retroreflectors) to define a fixed, double-ended optical path. Development of a single-ended system for remote measurements to an arbitrary target would expand dramatically the environmental applications of diode laser technology. To achieve this capability, Spectral Sciences, Inc. proposes to develop the Single-Ended Environmental Diode-laser Sensors (SEEDS). This technique will enable construction of portable point-and-shoot gaseous species monitors with detection sensitivities in the parts-per-billion concentration range. In Phase I, a laboratory breadboard version of SEEDS will be constructed and utilized for proof-of-principle experiments. In addition, a preliminary design will be developed for a SEEDS prototype that will be fabricated and tested in Phase II.