Publications

The authors report here the design, fabrication and demonstration of an electrostatically actuated MEMS diffractive optical device, the Polychromator grating. The Polychromator grating enables a new type of correlation spectrometer for remote detection of a wide range of chemical species, offering electronic programmability, high specificity and sensitivity, fast response and ruggedness. Significant results include: (1) The first demonstrations of user-defined synthetic spectra in the 3-5 {micro}m wavelength regime based upon controlled deflection of individual grating elements in the Polychromator grating; (2) The first demonstration of gas detection by correlation spectroscopy using synthetic spectra generated by the Polychromator grating.

A new mode of operation for an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) has been demonstrated that uses potential wells to trap and separate ions by their mobility. This mode of operation has been made feasible by the improvements in personal computers that now allow real-time control of the potentials on ring electrodes in the IMS drift tube. This mode of operation does not require a shutter grid and allows the accumulation of ions in the potential well to enhance the ion signal. Loss of ions from the potential well is controlled by the radial electric fields required by Gauss's law.

Important factors in the application of sensing technology to space applications are low mass, small size, and low power. All of these attributes are enabled by the application of MEMS and micro-fabrication technology to micro-sensors. Two types of sensors are utilized in space applications: remotes sensing from orbit around the earth or another planetary body, and point sensing in the spacecraft or external to it. Several Sandia projects that apply microfabrication technologies to the development of new sensing capabilities having the potential for space applications will be briefly described. The Micro-Navigator is a project to develop a MEMS-based device to measure acceleration and rotation in all three axes for local area navigation. The Polychromator project is a joint project with Honeywell and MIT to develop an electrically programmable diffraction grating that can be programmed to synthesize the spectra of molecules. This grating will be used as the reference cell in a gas correlation radiometer to enable remote chemical detection of most chemical species. Another area of research where micro-fabrication is having a large impact is the development of a "lab on a chip." Sandia's efforts to develop the μChemLab™ will be described including the development of microfabricated pre-concentrators, chromatographic columns, and detectors. Smart sensors that allow the spacecraft independent decision making capabilities depend on pattern recognition. Sandia's development of a new pattern recognition methodology that can be used to interpret sensor response as well as for target recognition applications will be described.

Chemical detection of gaseous species at very low vapor pressures is possible for materials with very low, saturation vapor pressures. A saturation vapor pressure implies equilibrium with the solid or liquid phase of the material. Thus partitioning of the gaseous species into a phase such as a polymer, will result in a very large concentration of the species in the solid phase and greatly enhanced ability to detect this species. The concentration in the polymer of the species to be detected is limited by the volubility of the species in that phase. In this presentation we discuss such a situation were 2-nitro-diphenylamine (2NDPA) is detected in the gas phase at room temperature at the few parts per trillion level.

Chemical sensing with a magnetically excited flexural plate wave (mag- FPW) resonator has been demonstrated for the first time. One surface of the resonator was coated with ethyl cellulose to impart sensitivity to volatile solvents such as chloroform, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and toluene. The absorbed mass of the analyte causes a shift in the membrane resonance frequency of the two-port mag-FPW resonator. An oscillator circuit is used to track the resonance frequency, providing a convenient means of monitoring analyte concentration levels. Analyte concentrations of 10 ppm were easily detected.

Important factors in the application of chemical sensing technology to space applications are low mass, small size, and low power. All of these attributes are enabled by the application of MEMS and micro-fabrication technology to chemical sensing. Several Sandia projects that apply these technologies to the development of new chemical sensing capabilities with the potential for space applications will be described. The Polychromator project is a joint project with Honeywell and MIT to develop an electrically programmable diffraction grating that can be programmed to synthesize the spectra of molecules. This grating will be used as the reference cell in a gas correlation radiometer to enable remote chemical detection of most chemical species. Another area of research where micro-fabrication is having a large impact is the development of a lab on a chip. Sandia's efforts to develop the {mu}ChemLab{trademark} will be described including the development of microfabricated pre-concentrators, chromatographic columns, and detectors. Chemical sensors are evolving in the direction of sensor arrays with pattern recognition methods applied to interpret the pattern of response. Sandia's development of micro-fabricated chemiresistor arrays and the VERI pattern recognition technology to interpret the sensor response will be described.

This report covers the development of fiber optic hydrogen and temperature sensors for monitoring dissolved hydrogen gas in transformer oil. The concentration of hydrogen gas is a measure of the corona and spark discharge within the transformer and reflects the state of health of the transformer. Key features of the instrument include use of palladium alloys to enhance hydrogen sensitivity, a microprocessor controlled instrument with RS-232, liquid crystal readout, and 4-20 ma. current loop interfaces. Calibration data for both sensors can be down loaded to the instrument through the RS-232 interface. This project was supported by the Technology Transfer Initiative in collaboration with J. W. Harley, Inc. through the mechanism of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA).

For future planetary science missions, the authors are developing a series of microinstruments using the techniques of silicon-based micromachining. Conventional instruments such as chemical sensors, charged particle analyzers and mass spectrometers are reduced in size and effective volume to the dimension of cubic centimeters, while maintaining or enhancing performance. Using wafer/wafer bonding techniques, selective chemical etching, thin Film growth, and high resolution lithography, complex three dimensional structures can be assembled. This paper discusses the design, implementation and performance of two new instruments: The Micromachined Bessel Box Auger Electron Spectrometer, and the Mars Soil Chemistry Experiment (MOx).