Near-real-time reagentless handheld submersible CBRNE sensor Navy SBIR FY2009.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2009.1 Topic No.: N091-084 Topic Title: Near-real-time reagentless handheld submersible CBRNE sensor Proposal No.: N091-084-0091 Firm: Photon Systems 1512 Industrial Park St. Covina, California 91722-3417 Contact: William Hug Phone: (626) 967-6431 Web Site: www.photonsystems.com Abstract: We propose to demonstrate feasibility of a hand-held, fully self-contained, submersible, real-time, reagentless sensor weighing less than 10 lbs submerged and capable of rapid detection and classification/recognition of trace concentrations of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE) hazards. The reagentless sensor integrates into a single unit: 1) a deep UV laser based, Rayleigh (R), resonance Raman (RR), native fluorescence (NF), and phosphorescence decay (PD) sensor for short range standoff (1 m) of trace biological and organic materials in the water column and sediments, and passive UV/Vis Cerenkov radiation sensor for radioactive decay, 2) a hybrid Differential Mobility Spectrometer (DMS) with two dual Ion Mobility Spectrometers (IMS2) for measuring a wide array of chemical contaminants including heavy metals and organic and inorganic compounds in the water column, and 3) a Geiger-Muller spectrometer (GMS) for radiation measurement and radionuclide identification. This combination of detection methods in a single, hand-held, reagentless sensor provides a broad, overlapping, and confirming range of information about underwater CBRNE hazards. The sensor suite is rapidly trainable to new threats and hazards. The TRL level for hardware elements within the proposed sensor suite range from TRL 4 to 6 with software ranging from TRL 3 to 6. Benefits: The proposed development will provide a new capability, hand-held submersible sensor that will enable detection of trace levels of a wide array of CBRNE hazards in a single sensor. The application ranges from military, homeland security, local government, to commercial applications for examining the hulls of cruise and cargo ships, and marine installations. Return