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

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目详细介绍了一种强大的新型气相色谱（GC）检测器，芳香特定激光电离检测器（ArSLID）的快速商业化路线图。像传统的光电离探测器（PID）一样，arslip通过光吸收产生离子。但它的双光子激光电离过程比PID具有许多显著的优势，包括：极低的检测极限，可能是任何GC探测器中最低的；极快的响应非常适合快速GC；极小的背景信号；对芳烃有更高的选择性；长时间稳定的反应；并与所有载气兼容，包括空气。arglide原型机的初步数据已经显示出低背景、选择性和灵敏度；它与任何PID一样敏感（约1 pg的甲苯柱上注入）。在第一阶段，至少一个数量级的进一步改进将实现，结合一个紧凑的，低成本的微芯片激光电离源，与迄今为止使用的激光源相比，还提供更高的脉冲重复频率和射对射稳定性。arslip将发现PID难以或不可能满足的许多应用。在环境分析的情况下，来自有毒和有害的芳香物种（特别是BTEX部分）的信号往往被淹没在具有PID的脂肪族信号中。同样，在药物分析中，大约75%的药物含有芳香部分，在内源性化合物的海洋中寻找药物或其代谢物往往具有挑战性。据估计，气相色谱检测器的pid年销售额为2100万美元，由于ArSLID的卓越性能，预计将迅速占据这一市场的很大一部分。

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.