Design and Integration of a Cylindrical Ion Trap Array for a Micro-Total-Chemical-Analysis System

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Research:This Small Grant for Exploratory Research is being funded under NSF 02-2: "Next Generation Chemical and Biological Sensors and Sensing Systems." The objective of the research is to design, model, fabricate, test, and integrate a miniature mass analyzer to augment the existing chemical analysis capability of a total micro-analytical system on a chip. A smaller, faster, cheaper, and more accurate mass analyzer may also be useful in space applications, chemical warfare and biological weapons detection, environmental monitoring, and medical diagnostics. A feasibility analysis has been carried out to assess the functionality of a cylindrical ion trap array with each trap at micrometer scales. The mass range can be varied to detect low mass chemicals and large mass biological molecules by changing the physical dimension of the ion trap and/or the operation frequency. It has been shown that the resolution and sensitivity can be maintained in these micro-mass analyzers, making a fieldable and portable device possible. This miniaturized mass analyzer will be integrated with a miniature gas-chromatograph column, a micro-thermal conductivity detector, a surface acoustic wave detector, and an internal calibration unit, for chemical and biological sensing.Impact:The research outcome will be integrated into a new undergraduate laboratory course on Semiconductor Manufacturing and Micro-Fabrication to give chemical engineers hands-on experience in fabricating and testing miniature chemical sensing systems and the opportunity to work with engineering students from other disciplines. Senior projects, summer internships, and research projects will be offered to high school students, undergraduate and graduate students, especially women, based on the planned research to help their long-term career development in academia and industry.