STTR Phase I: A micro-Thermionic Ionization Source for Chemical Detection

小企业技术转让第一阶段项目将推动新型便携式气体分析系统的开发。便携式分析系统可以提供有关周围环境的及时信息，从而在关键情况下做出更好的决策。 在执法方面，基于拟议技术的便携式探测器将使官员能够集中调查特定目标，无论是毒品还是爆炸物。 同样，在军事和民防行动中，即使大部分材料隐藏得很好，也可以探测到痕量爆炸物。一个便携式系统与拟议的探测器将很容易能够识别和量化化学战剂和农药在单一的十亿分之一的水平在复杂的背景。 通过在这些低水平上进行精确的代理检测，这些系统的用户将拥有更好的信息和更多的时间来对这些信息采取行动。 在农业中，更好的检测器将导致更明智地使用农药，从而提高其有效性，同时减少人类接触。 考虑到所有潜在的应用，拟议的工作可能会在每年20亿美元的气体检测市场中的6亿美元领域取得重大进展。 该项目的智力价值是基于桑迪亚国家实验室和Defiant技术公司在开发用于化学检测的微型组件和系统方面投入的多年工作。 该提案的目标是开发一种新的电离源，可以取代放射性材料和其他更大，更耗电的电子源。新的电子电离源将使用微机电系统（MEMS）制造技术，形成一个毫米级的加热元件，在600摄氏度下有效地工作。新技术，制定和存款低功能工作材料在这些加热器将被开发和利用，以构建电离源。该研究将需要探索低功函数材料的碱金属配方，加热器的制造寿命，以及可能的故障机制的源操作条件。在第一阶段工作结束时，目标是开发一种电离源，该电离源可以与便携式气相色谱仪和便携式离子迁移系统相结合，用于检测和分析爆炸物、化学战剂、杀虫剂和麻醉剂。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will advance the development of new portable gas analysis systems. Portable analysis systems can provide timely information about the surroundings, leading to better decisions in critical situations. For law enforcement, a portable detector based on the proposed technology will enable officers to focus an investigation on specific targets, whether narcotics or explosives. Likewise, for military and civil defense operations, trace explosives can be detected even when the bulk of the material is well concealed. A portable system with the proposed detector will easily be able to identify and quantify chemical warfare agents and pesticides at single part-per-billion levels in complex backgrounds. With precise agent detection at these low levels, the users of these systems will have better information and more time to act on that information. In agriculture, a better detector will lead to a more judicious use of pesticides and thereby increase their effectiveness while reducing human exposure. Considering all of the potential applications, the proposed work could lead to significant advancements in a $600 million segment of the $2 billion annual gas detection market. The intellectual merit of this project is based on the years of work that Sandia National Laboratories and Defiant Technologies have invested in the development of micro components and systems for chemical detection. The proposal objective is to develop a new ionization source that can replace radioactive materials, and other larger and more power hungry thermionic sources. The new thermionic ionization source will use micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication techniques to form a millimeter-scale heating element that operates efficiently at 600 degrees C. New techniques to formulate and deposit low function work materials on these heaters will be developed and exploited to construct the ionization sources. The research will entail an exploration of alkali metal formulations for the low-work function material, heater fabrication for longevity, and source operating conditions for possible failure mechanisms. At the end of this Phase I effort, the goal is to develop an ionization source that can be coupled with portable gas chromatograph and portable ion mobility systems for the detection and analysis of explosives, chemical warfare agents, pesticides, and narcotics.