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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Optical Spectroscopy of Venus Aerosol Analogs and Substrate Survivability

Aerosol Rapid Analysis Combined Entry Probe/Sonde Technology (AERACEPT) is a dual descent probe and in-situ sampler of cloud and aerosol particles, used as part of the Nephele mission concept to study Venus cloud layers. Various optical spectroscopic characterization methods, including Raman spectroscopy and Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), Laser induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), and absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy are being assessed for viability for compatibility with AERACEPT. Specifically, the detection limits, sensitivity, specificity, and analysis cadence of these techniques for a set of Venus aerosol analogs and their mixtures are tested. We report on preliminary optical spectroscopy results of the Venus aerosol analogs, as well as optical substrate survivability in heated and acidic conditions, substrate physical robustness, and analyte wettability on substrates.

Venus↗
NASA NTRS1966

New techniques in geochemical analysis

Thin layer and gas chromatography, Mossbauer and atomic absorption spectrometry, fission track analysis, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and other methods employed in geochemistry

X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY↗
NASA NTRS1989

Surface composition of solid-rocket exhausted aluminum oxide particles

Particulate samples of aluminum oxide were collected on Teflon filters from the exhaust plume of the Space Shuttle (STS-61A, October 30, 1985) over the altitude interval 4.6-7.6 km immediately after launch. These particles were analyzed using SEM, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis, X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy, and conventional wet-chemical techniques. The samples were 0.6-1.0 percent surface-chlorided (chlorided meaning predominantly aluminum chlorides and oxychlorides, possibly including other adsorbed forms of chloride) by weight. This level of chloriding is about one-third of the amount determined previously from laboratory-prepared alumina and surface site samples of solid-rocket-produced alumina (SRPA) after both had been exposed to moist HCl vapor at temperatures down to ambient. This level is equivalent to previous laboratory results with samples exposed to moist HCl at temperatures above the boiling point of water. It is suggested that the present lower chloriding levels, determined for samples from a 'dry' Shuttle exhaust cloud, underscore the importance of a liquid water/hydrochloric acid phase in governing the extent of surface chloriding of SRPA. The reduced chloriding is not trivial with respect to potential physical/chemical modification of the SRPA particle surfaces and their corresponding interaction with the atmosphere.

Cofer, Wesley R., III↗
NASA NTRS2008

Development and Optical Testing of the Camera, Hand Lens, and Microscope Probe with Scannable Laser Spectroscopy (CHAMP-SLS)

Conducting high resolution field microscopy with coupled laser spectroscopy that can be used to selectively analyze the surface chemistry of individual pixels in a scene is an enabling capability for next generation robotic and manned spaceflight missions, civil, and military applications. In the laboratory, we use a range of imaging and surface preparation tools that provide us with in-focus images, context imaging for identifying features that we want to investigate at high magnification, and surface-optical coupling that allows us to apply optical spectroscopic analysis techniques for analyzing surface chemistry particularly at high magnifications. The camera, hand lens, and microscope probe with scannable laser spectroscopy (CHAMP-SLS) is an imaging/spectroscopy instrument capable of imaging continuously from infinity down to high resolution microscopy (resolution of approx. 1 micron/pixel in a final camera format), the closer CHAMP-SLS is placed to a feature, the higher the resultant magnification. At hand lens to microscopic magnifications, the imaged scene can be selectively interrogated with point spectroscopic techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, microscopic Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (micro-LIBS), laser ablation mass-spectrometry, Fluorescence spectroscopy, and/or Reflectance spectroscopy. This paper summarizes the optical design, development, and testing of the CHAMP-SLS optics.

Fluorescence↗
NASA NTRS2003

Semiselective Optoelectronic Sensors for Monitoring Microbes

Sensor systems are under development for use in real-time detection and quantitation of microbes in water without need for sampling. These systems include arrays of optical sensors; miniature, portable electronic data-acquisition circuits; and optoelectronic interfaces between the sensor arrays and data-acquisition circuits. These systems are intended for original use in long-term, inline monitoring of waterborne micro-organisms in water-reclamation systems aboard future spacecraft. They could also be adapted to similar terrestrial uses with respect to municipal water supplies, stored drinking water, and swimming water; for detecting low-level biological contamination in biotechnological, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical process streams; and in verifying the safety of foods and beverages. In addition, they could be adapted to monitoring of airborne microbes and of surfaces (e.g., to detect and/or quantitate biofilms). The designs of the sensors in these systems are based partly on those of sensors developed previously for monitoring airborne biological materials. The designs exploit molecular- recognition and fluorescence-spectroscopy techniques, such that in the presence of micro-organisms of interest, fluorescence signals change and the changes can be measured. These systems are characterized as semiselective because they respond to classes of micro-organisms and can be used to discriminate among the classes. This semiselectivity is a major aspect of the design: It is important to distinguish between (1) the principle of detection and quantitation of classes of micro-organisms by use of these sensors and (2) the principle of detection and quantitation of individual microbiological species by means of prior immuno-diagnostic and/or molecular-biology techniques. Detection of classes (in contradistinction to species) is particularly valuable when the exact nature of a contaminant is unknown.

Tabacco, Mary Beth↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Composition and Density Stratification Observed by SuperCam in the First 300 Sols in Jezero Crater

The Perseverance rover has traveled > 2.5 km since leaving its Octavia Butler landing site in Jezero crater ~300 sols ago. The SuperCam remote sensing instrument suite has made > 1000 observations of bedrock along the traverse to provide a comprehensive picture of Jezero crater floor’s chemistry and mineralogy. SuperCam combines high resolution imaging, visible and near-infrared (VISIR) reflectance spectroscopy (0.4-0.85, 1.3-2.6 µm), remote time-resolved green-laser Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and acoustic sensing into a single co-boresighted package [1, 2]. Derivation of the major element abundances as oxide wt% for this part of the mission is presented in [3], while calibration of the VIS and IR spectrometers are given in [4-7].

R.C. Wiens↗
NASA NTRS2009

Using Fluorescent Viruses for Detecting Bacteria in Water

A method of detecting water-borne pathogenic bacteria is based partly on established molecular-recognition and fluorescent-labeling concepts, according to which bacteria of a species of interest are labeled with fluorescent reporter molecules and the bacteria can then be detected by fluorescence spectroscopy. The novelty of the present method lies in the use of bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) to deliver the fluorescent reporter molecules to the bacteria of the species of interest.

Tabacco, Mary Beth↗
NASA NTRS2002

Optical design of a reflectance/raman confocal microspectrometer

A miniaturized instrument for systematic planetary mineralogy is presented, and the optical design of the component parts is discussed. The instrument combines the following capabilities: wide field color imaging, confocal imaging at two different resolution/range levels, reflectance spectroscopy in the 400-2500 nm region with a resolution of 10 nm, and Raman spectroscopy over 4000 cm^-1with an average resolution of 3.3 cm^-1. The instrument can also serve as an expandable platform for adding fluorescence spectroscopy, or for examining samples from a distance of several meters while using the same spectrometer.

optical↗
NASA NTRS2007

Mosaic-Detector-Based Fluorescence Spectral Imager

A battery-powered, pen-sized, portable instrument for measuring molecular fluorescence spectra of chemical and biological samples in the field has been proposed. Molecular fluorescence spectroscopy is among the techniques used most frequently in laboratories to analyze compositions of chemical and biological samples. Heretofore, it has been possible to measure fluorescence spectra of molecular species at relative concentrations as low as parts per billion (ppb), with a few nm spectral resolution. The proposed instrument would include a planar array (mosaic) of detectors, onto which a fluorescence spectrum would be spatially mapped. Unlike in the larger laboratory-type molecular fluorescence spectrometers, mapping of wavelengths to spatial positions would be accomplished without use of relatively bulky optical parts. The proposed instrument is expected to be sensitive enough to enable measurement of spectra of chemical species at relative concentrations <1 ppb, with spectral resolution that could be tailored by design to be comparable to a laboratory molecular fluorescence spectrometer. The proposed instrument (see figure) would include a button-cell battery and a laser diode, which would generate the monochromatic ultraviolet light needed to excite fluorescence in a sample. The sample would be held in a cell bounded by far-ultraviolet-transparent quartz or optical glass. The detector array would be, more specifically, a complementary metal oxide/ semiconductor or charge-coupled- device imaging photodetector array, the photodetectors of which would be tailored to respond to light in the wavelength range of the fluorescence spectrum to be measured. The light-input face of the photodetector array would be covered with a matching checkerboard array of multilayer thin film interference filters, such that each pixel in the array would be sensitive only to light in a spectral band narrow enough so as not to overlap significantly with the band of an adjacent pixel. The wavelength interval between adjacent pixels (and, thus, the spectral resolution) would typically be chosen by design to be approximately equal to the width of the total fluorescence wavelength range of interest divided by the number of pixels. The unitary structure comprising the photodetector array overlaid with the matching filter array would be denoted a hyperspectral mosaic detector (HMD) array.

Son, Kyung-Ah↗
NASA NTRS2008

Near-Field Spectroscopy with Nanoparticles Deposited by AFM

An alternative approach to apertureless near-field optical spectroscopy involving an atomic-force microscope (AFM) entails less complexity of equipment than does a prior approach. The alternative approach has been demonstrated to be applicable to apertureless near-field optical spectroscopy of the type using an AFM and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and is expected to be equally applicable in cases in which infrared or fluorescence spectroscopy is used. Apertureless near-field optical spectroscopy is a means of performing spatially resolved analyses of chemical compositions of surface regions of nanostructured materials. In apertureless near-field spectroscopy, it is common practice to utilize nanostructured probe tips or nanoparticles (usually of gold) having shapes and dimensions chosen to exploit plasmon resonances so as to increase spectroscopic-signal strengths. To implement the particular prior approach to which the present approach is an alternative, it is necessary to integrate a Raman spectrometer with an AFM and to utilize a special SERS-active probe tip. The resulting instrumentation system is complex, and the tasks of designing and constructing the system and using the system to acquire spectro-chemical information from nanometer-scale regions on a surface are correspondingly demanding.

Anderson, Mark S.↗
NASA NTRS1999

A Mossbauer investigation of iron-rich terrestrial hydrothermal vent systems: lessons for Mars exploration

Hydrothermal spring systems may well have been present on early Mars and could have served as a habitat for primitive life. The integrated instrument suite of the Athena Rover has, as a component on the robotic arm, a Mossbauer spectrometer. In the context of future Mars exploration we present results of Mossbauer analysis of a suite of samples from an iron-rich thermal spring in the Chocolate Pots area of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and from Obsidian Pool (YNP) and Manitou Springs, Colorado. We have found that Mossbauer spectroscopy can discriminate among the iron-bearing minerals in our samples. Those near the vent and on the surface are identified as ferrihydrite, an amorphous ferric mineraloid. Subsurface samples, collected from cores, which are likely to have undergone inorganic and/or biologically mediated alteration (diagenesis), exhibit spectral signatures that include nontronite (a smectite clay), hematite (alpha-Fe2O3), small-particle/nanophase goethite (alpha-FeOOH), and siderite (FeCO3). We find for iron minerals that Mossbauer spectroscopy is at least as efficient in identification as X-ray diffraction. This observation is important from an exploration standpoint. As a planetary surface instrument, Mossbauer spectroscopy can yield high-quality spectral data without sample preparation (backscatter mode). We have also used field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), in conjunction with energy-dispersive X ray (EDX) fluorescence spectroscopy, to characterize the microbiological component of surface sinters and the relation between the microbiological and the mineralogical framework. Evidence is presented that the minerals found in these deposits can have multi-billion-year residence times and thus may have survived their possible production in a putative early Martian hot spring up to the present day. Examples include the nanophase property and the Mossbauer signature for siderite, which has been identified in a 2.09-billion-year old hematite-rich chert stromatolite. Our research demonstrates that in situ Mossbauer spectroscopy can help determine whether hydrothermal mineral deposits exist on Mars, which is significant for exobiology because of the issue of whether that world ever had conditions conductive to the origin of life. As a useful tool for selection of samples suitable for transport to Earth, Mossbauer spectroscopy will not only serve geological interests but will also have potential for exopaleontology.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS2004

Determination of Aromatic Ring Number Using Multi-Channel Deep UV Native Fluorescence

The in situ detection of organic material on an extraterrestrial surface requires both effective means of searching a relatively large surface area or volume for possible organic carbon, and a more specific means of identifying and quantifying compounds in indicated samples. Fluorescence spectroscopy fits the first requirement well, as it can be carried out rapidly, with minimal or no physical contact with the sample, and with sensitivity unmatched by any other organic analytical technique. Aromatic organic compounds with know fluorescence signatures have been identified in several extraterrestrial samples, including carbonaceous chondrites, interplanetary dust particles, and Martian meteorites. The compound distributions vary among these sources, however, with clear differences in relative abundances by number of aromatic rings and by degree of alkylation. This relative abundance information, therefore, can be used to infer the source of organic material detected on a planetary surface.

Bhartia, R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

An x ray scatter approach for non-destructive chemical analysis of low atomic numbered elements

A non-destructive x-ray scatter (XRS) approach has been developed, along with a rapid atomic scatter algorithm for the detection and analysis of low atomic-numbered elements in solids, powders, and liquids. The present method of energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF) makes the analysis of light elements (i.e., less than sodium; less than 11) extremely difficult. Detection and measurement become progressively worse as atomic numbers become smaller, due to a competing process called 'Auger Emission', which reduces fluorescent intensity, coupled with the high mass absorption coefficients exhibited by low energy x-rays, the detection and determination of low atomic-numbered elements by x-ray spectrometry is limited. However, an indirect approach based on the intensity ratio of Compton and Rayleigh scattered has been used to define light element components in alloys, plastics and other materials. This XRS technique provides qualitative and quantitative information about the overall constituents of a variety of samples.

Ross, H. Richard↗
NASA NTRS2018

A Spectrographic Receiver for Laser Spectrometers

Multiband LiDAR systems, which are typically single wavelength in transmission and reception, are becoming more applicable for scientific use. However, traditional LiDAR receivers do not scale well to tens or hundreds of received bands. We introduce the design for a spectrographic receiver using an array detector for laser spectrometers and present two of the many possible applications: fluorescence spectroscopy in the visible range and IR reflectance spectroscopy. Each laser pulse has the capability of exciting a target in various wavelengths, and a spectrographic receiver would be able to interpret this excitation, while a typical LiDAR consisting of single wavelength receiver would not. Using a spectrograph in a system with a pulsed laser in the visible or UV range is capable of the detection of fluorescent signal. These spectra reveal the presence of organics and is an applicable technology for planetary science. A spectrograph coupled with a pulsed laser in the IR range shows capability of detecting the presence of water in various forms also applicable technology for both Earth and planetary science. Both systems utilize a Czerny-Turner spectrograph design with a ZnSe prism for the dispersion of light onto an Avalanche Photo Diode (APD). This paper introduces the concept and design of a spectrographic receiver for laser spectrometers, as well as two possible applications.

Sandford, Macey↗
NASA NTRS1998

Ensembles of radial basis function networks for spectroscopic detection of cervical precancer

The mortality related to cervical cancer can be substantially reduced through early detection and treatment. However, current detection techniques, such as Pap smear and colposcopy, fail to achieve a concurrently high sensitivity and specificity. In vivo fluorescence spectroscopy is a technique which quickly, noninvasively and quantitatively probes the biochemical and morphological changes that occur in precancerous tissue. A multivariate statistical algorithm was used to extract clinically useful information from tissue spectra acquired from 361 cervical sites from 95 patients at 337-, 380-, and 460-nm excitation wavelengths. The multivariate statistical analysis was also employed to reduce the number of fluorescence excitation-emission wavelength pairs required to discriminate healthy tissue samples from precancerous tissue samples. The use of connectionist methods such as multilayered perceptrons, radial basis function (RBF) networks, and ensembles of such networks was investigated. RBF ensemble algorithms based on fluorescence spectra potentially provide automated and near real-time implementation of precancer detection in the hands of nonexperts. The results are more reliable, direct, and accurate than those achieved by either human experts or multivariate statistical algorithms.

Cervix Neoplasms/pathology↗
NASA NTRS2002

Molecular Probe Fluorescence Monitoring of Polymerization

This project investigated the feasibility of using fluorescence spectroscopy to determine viscosity of polymer/monomer in support of Transient Interfacial Phenomena in Miscible Polymer Systems (TIPMPS). This project will attempt to measure gradient induced flow at a miscible interface during and / or after in-flight polymerization of dodecyl acrylate (lauryl acrylate). Concentration and temperature gradients will be intentionally introduced during polymerization and the resultant fluid flow determined by Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV). This report describes an investigation of the feasibility of using fluorescence of a probe molecule to monitor viscosity and/or concentration during and after polymerization. The probe used was pyrene which has been shown to be sensitive to its local environment in methyl methacrylate.

Patrick Bunton↗
NASA NTRS1977

Double resonance spectroscopy of multiple-photon excited molecules

Multiple infrared photon absorption is a quite general process which molecules can undergo when placed in a high flux of infrared energy, such as the focussed beam of a CO2 laser. In order to understand how this process works, one must be able to follow the evolution of the molecules through their internal states, populated by photon absorption. Double-resonance spectroscopy is the method of a choice for getting at this information. A system pumped by CO2 laser radiation can be examined with a tunable laser probe beam, such as that from a lead-salt diode laser. From such an experiment, one can directly observe Rabi modulation of the absorption lines, determine elementary state-to-state relaxation pathways, and locate higher excited vibrational states. Systems currently under investigation include SF6 and vinyl chloride. In suitable cases, the probe beam can be a tunable visible or UV source, such as a dye laser. Fluorescence spectroscopy can then be used to monitor the transient absorptions produced by multiple-photon excitation. Among the systems which can be examined are biacetyl and glyoxal.

Steinfeld, J. I.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Kinetics and Thermochemistry of Reversible Adduct Formation in the Reaction of Cl((sup 2)P(sub J)) with CS2

Reversible adduct formation in the reaction of Cl((sup 2)P(sub J)) with CS2 has been observed over the temperature range 193-258 K by use of time-resolved resonance fluorescence spectroscopy to follow the decay of pulsed-laser-generated Cl((sup 2)P(sub J)) into equilbrium with CS2Cl. Rate coefficients for CS2Cl formation and decomposition have been determined as a function of temperature and pressure; hence, the equilbrium constant has been determined as a function of temperature. A second-law analysis of the temperature dependence of Kp and heat capacity corrections calculated with use of an assumed CS2Cl structure yields the following thermodynamic parameters for the association reaction: Delta-H(sub 298) = -10.5 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol, Delta-H(sub 0) = -9.5 +/- 0.7 kcal/mol, Delta-S(sub 298) = -26.8 +/- 2.4 cal/mol.deg., and Delta-H(sub f,298)(CS2Cl) = 46.4 +/- 0.6 kcal/mol. The resonance fluorescence detection scheme has been adapted to allow detection of Cl((sup 2)P(sub J)) in the presence of large concentrations of O2, thus allowing the CS2Cl + Cl + O2 reaction to be investigated. We find that the rate coefficient for CS2Cl + O2 reaction via all channels that do not generate Cl((sup 2)P(sub J)) is less than 2.5 x 10(exp-16) cu cm/(molecule.s) at 293 K and 300-Torr total pressure and that the total rate coefficient is less than 2 x 10 (exp -15) cu cm/(molecule.s) at 230 K and 30-Torr total pressure. Evidence for reversible adduct formation in the reaction of Cl((sup 2)P(sub J)) with COS was sought but not observed, even at temperatures as low as 194 K.

Nicovich, J. M.↗