SBIR Phase I: Novel Ultrasensitive Gas Chromatography (GC) Detector with Highly Specific Response to Aromatic Hydrocarbons

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project details the roadmap to rapid commercialization of a powerful new gas chromatography (GC) detector, the Aromatic Specific Laser Ionization Detector (ArSLID). Like a conventional photoionization detector (PID), the ArSLID creates ions by photoabsorption. But its two-photon laser ionization process confers many significant advantages over the PID, including: extraordinarily low limit of detection, potentially the lowest of any GC detector; extremely fast response ideally suited for fast GC; miniscule background signal; far higher selectivity for aromatic hydrocarbons; stable esponse over long periods of time; and compatible with all carrier gases, including air. Preliminary data taken with a prototype ArSLID already show the low background, selectivity, and sensitivity; it is as sensitive as any PID (ca. 1 pg toluene injected on-column). At least an order of magnitude further improvement will be achieved in Phase I with incorporation of a compact, low cost microchip laser ionization source that also offers much higher pulse repetition frequency and shot-to-shot stability compared to the laser source used to date.The ArSLID will find numerous applications that are difficult or impossible for a PID to meet. In the case of environmental analysis, the signals from the toxic and hazardous aromatic species (specifically the BTEX fraction) are too often buried in the aliphatic signals with a PID. Similarly, in pharmaceutical analysis, approximately 75% of the drugs contain an aromatic moiety and it is often challenging to find the drugs or their metabolites in the sea of endogenous compounds. It is estimated the annual sales of PIDs for GC detectors at $21 million and expect to rapidly capture a significant fraction of this market owing to the superior performance capabilities of the ArSLID.