Combining Ultralow Energy Electron Attachment and Miniature Mass Spectrometry: A New Concept for a Hand Held Detector for Explosives and Nerve Agents

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Both fundamental and developmental work will be carried out in the scattering and attachment of ultralow energy electrons to atoms and molecules. The goal is to develop within five years a hand-held instrument for detection of nerve agents and explosives with extremely low false alarm rate. This system is based on the Wigner s-wave attachment of zero-energy electrons to the terrorist substances. This system has been demonstrated at JPL/Caltech, and is the basis of commercial instruments now in production. The fundamental research will be on the species Cs, CH3I, CD3I, DIMP and DMMP. The developmental work will be in miniaturizing the charged-particle optics (with minimal loss in space-charge limited current) and electronics for a handheld system. Also demonstrated will be the use of a low-power, high current density carbon nanotubes assembly as an electron-ionizer source. This work is leveraged by similar requirements in NASAs planetary programs requiring miniature mass spectrometry. The flexible, broadly applicable hand-held tool will assuredly become a major part of the infrastructure for protecting against terrorist incursion facilities such as air and sea cargo containers, air and railroad terminals (personnel and luggage), nuclear power sites, and border crossings.