A Quantum Cascade Laser-Based CO Sensor for Fire Warning

Maxion Technologies and Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) propose to jointly develop a compact, rugged, highly reliable, and autonomous sensor for in-situ monitoring of CO in spacecraft crew areas for fire warning. Our innovation is to combine a custom fabricated Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) with PSI's proprietary single board electronics package that incorporates both a high sensitivity optical detection technique and all system control functions, to create a laser spectrometer for CO. The advent of QCLs enables the development of a very compact and highly sensitive monitor. This technical approach will result in a sensor that has the requisite dynamic range of 1 to 500 ppmv with a precision of 1 ppmv CO, in a physically robust and compact package. The Phase I program will demonstrate the feasibility of a breadboard sensor and create a detailed conceptual design for an advanced prototype. The TRL at the beginning of Phase I is level 2 and the TRL at the end of Phase I will be level 4. The Phase II program will fabricate a prototype that can be demonstrated at a relevant simulator. The TRL at the end of Phase II will be level 6. Successful completion of Phases I and II will result in a rigorously validated prototype sensor that can monitor ambient CO with high speed and precision. The sensor architecture can be easily modified to measure other species.

The QCL-based sensor will serve as a platform for a suite of compact and low cost gas sensors that can address a variety of applications ranging from air quality monitoring and other atmospheric research tools to combustion emissions monitoring, carbon sequestration monitoring and verification, biomedical diagnostics (specifically breath analysis and operating room health monitoring), home or mobile toxic gas alarms, smart HVAC control, and as a total hydrocarbon sensor for environmental and process control applications. Maxion and PSI anticipate working with several strategic marketing partners to address the large range of potential commercial applications. Maxion Technologies will make the single mode Quantum Cascade Laser developed in Phase 1 commercially available for insertion into other laser-based chemical sensors by NASA developers and/or other government and commercial concerns. Development of the single-mode QCL described in the proposal will generate high performance, room temperature laser material suitable for other laser-based chemical sensing applications within the technologically important hydrocarbon, CO and CO2 spectral regions.

The QCL-based sensor will serve as a platform for a suite of compact and low cost gas sensors that can measure a variety of species ranging from carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other air components that are important for many air quality monitoring missions. This sensor platform will provide a compact, low power consumption, low cost tool that is particularly suited for deployment in spacecraft cabins and on small aircraft such as UAVs. Maxion Technologies will make the single mode Quantum Cascade Laser developed in Phase 1 commercially available for insertion into other laser-based chemical sensors by NASA developers and/or other government and commercial concerns that work with NASA. Development of the single-mode QCL described in the proposal will generate high performance, room temperature laser material suitable for other laser-based chemical sensing applications in the technologically important 4.55-4.75 micron wavelength region.

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