Applied Systems Research, Inc. — Department of Defense STTR Phase II: US forces are increasingly involved in asymmetric warfare, peacekeeping and humanitarian a

Description

US forces are increasingly involved in asymmetric warfare, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance missions. These scenarios can place soldiers in direct contact with harmful biological and chemical warfare organisms and agents, toxic industrial chemicals, and explosives. Current portable sensor technology solutions rely on visible and near-IR Raman or fluorescence spectroscopy. A portable sensor system that combines both Raman and fluorescence measurements using Deep UV (DUV) Excitation should improve detection and classification of trace amounts of substances at stand-off distances. Phase I characterized sample analytes of chemical and biological agent simulants, explosives, toxic chemical and interferent substances to obtain their Raman and fluorescence spectra, and developed preliminary classification algorithms to identify substances and mixtures based on the combined modalities. Though Raman spectra are significantly more specific than LIF spectra, Phase I provided evidence of value in combining two modalities. Phase II will characterize significantly more substances, develop classification algorithms, investigate minimum design parameters required for unambiguous detection, and test them via a laboratory test bed. These activities should demonstrate the feasibility of developing a Phase III non-contact prototype system with greater sensitivity, improved detection, and cost and size reduction in fieldable instruments through the use of smaller, less expensive, lower-resolution spectrometers.