SBIR-STTR Award

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.

Maxion Technologies, Inc. (Maxion) proposes to develop and field test a Carbon Monoxide (CO)-sensor prototype for post fire cleanup and CO detection. The sensor will have the dynamic range required to detect and monitor CO from approximately 1 to 500 ppmv with a resolution to 1 ppmv. Maxion will grow, fabricate and test a Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) at a unique single-mode wavelength ideal for CO detection. Maxion will team with Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) to integrate the QCL into PSI's Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy (WMS) platform. The WMS sensor board, previously developed for near-IR lasers, will be redesigned to accommodate QCL lasers. The QCL will be specially designed and fabricated for minimum power consumption. In Phase 1 the QCL was incorporated into the WMS platform and tested on a breadboard level. The breadboard sensor demonstrated the necessary dynamic range and easily surpassed the required minimum sensitivity. A Phase II prototype design was made based on the Phase I results for which dynamic range, sensitivity, SWaP, and operation with a high degree of reliability, minimal maintenance, and self-calibration under varying humidity and ambient pressures are primary design features. The sensor prototype will be tested in a relevant environment with controlled burns at a NASA test facility. Upon successful completion of all field tests, the TRL will be 6 at the end of Phase II.