SBIR Phase I: A UAV Mounted Frequency Domain Terahertz Spectrometer for Real-Time, Location Specific, Pollution Detection

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是创建一个经济，高性能的太赫兹（THz）光谱仪，安装在消费者无人机或无人机（UAV）上，可以测试特定地理位置的空气中有害化合物的存在。频域太赫兹光谱仪能够表征气体样品中的许多不同分子和化学物质。历史上，这些光谱仪由于其尺寸和复杂性而被降级到实验室。然而，最近的进步使得建造一个可以安装在无人机上的轻型光谱仪成为可能。这是重要的，因为本地分析样品的能力消除了收集和运输潜在危险化合物（即化学战剂或污染物）到实验室进行分析的时间和费用。它还允许在短时间内进行检测和分类，而不需要使人员受到当地环境的影响。太赫兹无人机将能够立即和准确地检测空气中的许多有害化合物。拟议的项目将展示一种紧凑的、电池供电的、频域太赫兹光混合光谱仪，该光谱仪能够进行多普勒限制分子光谱分析，主要由经济的现成光纤组件构成，具有高度紧凑、重量轻的外形。黄铜板仪器将采用光学相位调制技术，以消除相干检测的影响，它将具有大于2 THz的带宽，光谱纯度优于100 kHz。该仪器建成后将用于测量二氧化碳与水蒸气混合气体的多普勒极限分子跃迁。在成功演示该仪器的能力后，将生成一个重量小于3公斤、能够由消费者无人机携带的集成系统的初稿设计，以及该仪器的更大实验室版本。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to create an economical, high performance Terahertz (THz) spectrometer mounted to a consumer drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to allow testing of air for the presence of harmful compounds over a specific geographical location. A frequency domain THz spectrometer is capable of characterizing many different molecules and chemicals in a gas sample. Historically these spectrometers have been relegated to the laboratory because of their size and complexity. However, recent advancements have made it possible to build a lightweight spectrometer that can be mounted to a drone. This is significant because the ability to analyze samples locally removes the time and expense of collecting and shipping potentially dangerous compounds (i.e. chemical warfare agents or pollutants) to a laboratory for analysis. It also allows detection and classification to occur on short notice and without the need to subject personnel to the local environment. The THz Drone will allow immediate and accurate detection of many harmful compounds in the air.The proposed project will demonstrate a compact, battery operated, frequency domain THz photomixing spectrometer that is capable of Doppler limited molecular spectroscopy and is constructed predominantly from economical off-the-shelf fiber optic components in a highly compact, light-weight form factor. The brass-board instrument will incorporate an optical phase-modulation technique to remove the effects of coherent detection and it will have a greater than 2 THz bandwidth with a spectral purity of better than 100 kHz. After construction, the instrument will be employed to measure Doppler limited molecular transitions of carbon dioxide mixed with water vapor. Upon the successful demonstration of the capabilities of the instrument, a first-draft design for an integrated system weighing less than 3 kg and capable of being carried with a consumer drone will be generated as will a larger laboratory version of the instrument.