Mission Adaptable Chemical Sensor (MACS)

Program Manager: Dr. Francis W. Patten

The objective of the MACS program is to successfully demonstrate a portable (< 1 cubic foot, < 30 lbs), ultra-sensitive (parts-per-trillion detection capability) chemical sensor based upon submillimeter/terahertz (THz) rotational spectroscopy. This technology takes advantage of the quantized nature of rotational motion for gas phase materials, and provides unique chemical spectra for multiple analytes in parallel, with very little interference from background atmospheric clutter. Further, rotational spectroscopy allows detection of many chemicals simultaneously, in a single sample, over a wide range of concentrations, without significant compromise in probability of detection or increase in false alarm rate.

The Mission Adaptable Chemical Sensor will be capable of sampling the local atmosphere and determining the presence of chemical, biological, and explosives threats by means of their gaseous signatures. This program asserts that unambiguous identification of such threats can be accomplished only by the rapid, simultaneous identification of the suite of gaseous chemicals that constitute their "signature"; accordingly, the sensor must be capable of identifying at least 300 molecular species in a single sample of the local atmosphere, within 10 minutes. The sensor must have a 0.9999 probability of threat detection and 0.0001 probability of false alarm.