Chemical Sensing Using Infrared Cavity Enhanced Spectroscopy: Short Wave Infrared Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (SWIR CRDS) Sensor
The principal goal of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL's) Remote Spectroscopy Project is to explore and develop the science and technology behind point and stand off infrared (IR) spectroscopic chemical sensors that are needed for detecting weapons proliferation activity and countering terrorism. Missions addressed include detecting chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and their production; counter terrorism measures that involve screening luggage, personnel, and shipping containers for explosives, firearms, narcotics, chemical weapons and/or their residues; and mapping of contaminated areas. The science and technology developed in this program is dual use in that it additionally supports progress in a diverse set of agendas that include chemical weapons defense programs, air operations activities, emissions monitoring, law enforcement, and medical diagnostics. Sensors for these missions require extremely low limits of detection because many of the targeted signature species are either present in low concentrations or have extremely low vapor pressures. The sensors also need to be highly selective as the environments that they will be operated in will contain a variety of interferent species and false positive detection is not an option. PNNL has been working on developing a class of sensors that draw vapor into optical cavities and use laser-based spectroscopy to identify and quantify the vapor chemical content. The cavity enhanced spectroscopies (CES) afford extreme sensitivity, excellent selectivity, noise immunity, and rapid, real-time, in-situ chemical characterization. PNNL's CES program is currently focused on developing two types of sensors. The first one, which is based on cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS), uses short wave infrared (SWIR) lasers to interrogate species. The second sensor, which is based on noise immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE OHMS), uses long wave infrared (LWIR) quantum cascade lasers as the light source. This report details the research and discoveries made on the SWIR CRDS project. While chemical detection limits in the SWIR is not expected to be as low as that in the LWIR, there are a number of reasons for designing sensors that operate in this region. First and foremost is that high quality SWIR lasers, detectors and optics are commercially available. Technological advances made in the telecommunications sector have yielded photonic components that are robust, low power, compact and operate at room temperature. These components can be quickly combined and assembled to produce a sensor prototype. This is exactly what we have done with our cavity ring down sensor. We assembled our first prototype instrument in FY02, tested it in the laboratory, developed the chemometrics, and defined several improvements that needed to be implemented before trialing this sensor in the field. In FY03 we completed the refinements, retested the sensor in the laboratory, and then conducted our first field campaign. Our success was demonstrated by the ability of our SWIR CRDS to run autonomously and continuously for 7 days when located in PNNL's Shipping and Receiving Building. No false positive alarms were detected even though the environment was contaminated with vehicle exhaust fumes, dirt, dust, and volatile organic chemicals associated with packaging materials. The instrument maintained its detection threshold and calibration throughout the test. Small fluctuations that we observed in the background concentration levels have led us to develop a more robust method for calibrating the instrument, and separate tests we conducted in the laboratory have afforded a means to account interference from species that have very broad, but weak absorption in this spectral region. We outline all of these accomplishments in detail in the body of this report.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 15010546
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-14475; NN2001000; TRN: US200502%%584
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Oct 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ABSORPTION
CALIBRATION
CAVITIES
CONTAINERS
DETECTION
ENFORCEMENT
EXPLOSIVES
FLUCTUATIONS
IMMUNITY
LASERS
LIGHT SOURCES
MONITORING
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
OPTICS
PROLIFERATION
RESIDUES
SPECTROSCOPY
VAPOR PRESSURE
WEAPONS
INFRARED
LASER SPECTROMETER
CHEMICAL SENSOR
AMMONIA