AN INTEGRATED-FUNCTION X-RAY LABORATORY FOR THE GEOLOGICAL AND EXOBIOLOGICAL

THE PROPOSED R&D WILL ESTABLISH A NEW CAPABILITY OF LIGHT-ELEMENT X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS THAT SUPPORTS THE ACCURATE QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT OF THE BIOGENIC ELEMENTS. THE BASIS FOR THIS NEW CAPABILITY IS A CLASS OF INNOVATIVE X-RAY WAVELENGTH-DISPERSIVE OPTICAL COMPONENTS KNOWN AS LAYERED SYNTHETIC MICROSTRUCTURES (LSM). THESE COMPONENTS, WHEN COMBINED WITH EXISTING ENERGY-DISPERSIVE DETECTORS, MAKE FEASIBLE THE CONSTRUCTION OF MINIATURE BIOGENIC ANALYZER SYSTEMS THAT SATISFY THE NASA MISSION. THE PHASE I PROJECT WILL SPECIFY THE OPTIMUM EXCITATION SOURCE, DISPERSION ELEMENT, AND DETECTOR COMPONENTS OF THE SYSTEM, AND PROVIDE A CALCULATIONAL END-TO-END DEMONSTRATIONOF ITS RESPONSE PROPERTIES. THESE DATA WILL PROVIDE A FOUNDATION FOR PHASE II PROTOTYPE CONSTRUCTION AND EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION.