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Title: Miniaturized Environmental Monitoring Instrumentation

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/756585· OSTI ID:756585

The objective of the Mass Spectrograph on a Chip (MSOC) program is the development of a miniature, multi-species gas sensor fabricated using silicon micromachining technology which will be orders of magnitude smaller and lower power consumption than a conventional mass spectrometer. The sensing and discrimination of this gas sensor are based on an ionic mass spectrograph, using magnetic and/or electrostatic fields. The fields cause a spatial separation of the ions according to their respective mass-to-charge ratio. The fabrication of this device involves the combination of microelectronics with micromechanically built sensors and, ultimately, vacuum pumps. The prototype of a chemical sensor would revolutionize the method of performing environmental monitoring for both commercial and government applications. The portable unit decided upon was the miniaturized gas chromatograph with a mass spectrometer detector, referred to as a GC/MS in the analytical marketplace.

Research Organization:
USDOE Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Falls, ID; Northrop Grumman Corporation, Baltimore, MD (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) (US)
DOE Contract Number:
FC07-94ID13292
OSTI ID:
756585
Report Number(s):
DOE/ID/13292; TRN: AH200029%%18
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Sep 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English