SBIR Phase I: Carbon Isotope Ratiometer

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目涉及腔增强吸收光谱的新应用，以确定深海热液喷口排放的二氧化碳的碳同位素比率。虽然这一同位素比率最近被确定为生物活性的指标，但目前使用的分析方法昂贵且不准确。这一第一阶段提案的目的是设计一种便携式腔增强吸收光谱系统，以准确地现场测定深海样品的同位素比率。初步结果表明，该系统可以测定优于0.1%的同位素比率，这足以确定生物活动的存在。这一努力将在一种廉价的便携式设备中提供准确的碳同位素比率测定。它还将在医疗诊断、石油工业和环境监测方面产生重大商业影响。预计仅在前两个领域，该比率计未来5年的销售额就将超过6500万美元。此外，拟议的原型可以很容易地进行修改，以监测各种工业气体，进一步增加其商业影响。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project concerns the novel application of cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy to determine the carbon isotope ratio of carbon dioxide emitting from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Although, this isotope ratio has recently been identified as an indicator of biological activity, the currently used analytical methods are expensive and inaccurate. The aim of this Phase I proposal is to design a portable cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy system to accurately determine isotope ratios of deep-sea samples in situ. Preliminary results suggest that the system can determine isotope ratios to better than 0.1 percent, which is sufficient to determine the presence of biological activity.This effort will provide an accurate determination of carbon isotope ratios in an inexpensive, portable device. It will also have significant commercial impact in medical diagnostics, the petroleum industry, and environmental monitoring. Projected sales of the ratiometer in the former two areas alone are expected to exceed $65M over the next five years. Moreover, the proposed prototype can be readily modified to monitor various industrial gases, further increasing its commercial impact.