The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 13, 1999
Filed:
Jul. 24, 1997
Slobodan Rajic, Knoxville, TN (US);
Panagiotis G Datskos, Knoxville, TN (US);
Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation, Oak Ridge, TN (US);
Abstract
A chemical detector comprises: an array of sensing elements, each having a characteristic physical parameter and a coating exhibiting a preferential adsorption of a chemical to be sensed; a chamber for exposing the coatings to an unknown sample of a chemical to be analyzed, the coatings adsorbing the chemical if present in the sample; a source of a monochromatic spectrum for radiating the array with different monochromatic wavelengths; and, a controller for recording signals representative of the physical parameter of the sensing elements responsive to the radiation. A method for sensing chemicals comprises the steps of: preferentially adsorbing a chemical to be sensed onto an array of sensing elements having a characteristic physical parameter; exposing the coatings to an unknown sample of a chemical to be analyzed, the coatings adsorbing the chemical if present in the sample; radiating the sensing elements with different monochromatic wavelengths; and, measuring changes of the physical parameter due to the adsorbing. The measurable changes of the physical parameter due to the adsorbing define a unique photothermal signature of a detected chemical. The arrays can be linear or multi dimensional, for example two dimensional.