Scientific presentation at Pittcon Conference 2016, Atlanta, 7th of March by Gasera Ltd. http://www.gasera.fi/

1. Demonstration of detection of hidden persons and illegal
substances with an array of quantum cascade lasers and
cantilever enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy
Sauli Sinisalo, Client Partner, Gasera Ltd.
Pittcon 2016, Atlanta, 7th
March 2016, 10:45 AM

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•Funded by the European Commission under the FP7-Security
programme
• Project started in 2012, ended in November 2015
•The Consortium of 14 partners from 5 EU countries
DOGGIES project aims at demonstrating:
•An operational movable stand-alone sensor for an efficient
detection of hidden persons, drugs & explosives
•“Orthogonal” trace detection
•Mid-Infrared spectroscopy, based on photoacoustic detection
(PAS) with widely tunable integrated MIR source i.e. MIRPAS
•Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS), with non-radioactive ionization
source
•Using specific pre-concentrators and advanced software to provide
reliable detection in real environments
DOGGIES =
Detection of Olfactory traces by
orthoGonal Gas identification technologIES
DOGGIES-project

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Consortium and partners
MirSense

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Orthogonal trace detection
Ion Mobility spectrometry
•Mature and well accepted
•Compact design
•High sensitivity
•High selectivity
Photoacoustic spectroscopy
•Extreme sensitivity
•Short optical path, very small
dimensions
•Short response time
•High selectivity

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Compounds of interest
Typical indications of human presence
•Expired air Acetone,Isoprene, Ammonia, CO2
•Blood (air phase) Acetone,Isoprene,
•Urine (air phase) Acetone,Various ketones
•Sweat odor (E & Z)-3-methylhex-2-enoic acid (i.e.3MHA)
Typical drug precursors
•a- and b-pinene (cannabis)
•Safrole (MDMA/ecstasy)
•BentzhylMethyl Ketone
(amphetamine/metamphetamine)
Typical explosives and taggants
•2- and 4-nitrotoluene
•2,4- and 2,6-Dinitrotoluene
•Butyl acetate
Gas library with in total of 52 components
Including a discovery of new cannabis marker (patent pending)

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Photoacoustic spectroscopy
Photoacoustic Effect
•Discovered in 1880 by Alexander
Graham Bell
•This theoretical potential has not
been reached,since
conventionalmicrophones have
been used for sensing the
pressure pulses
•Gasera’s novelcantilever sensor
technology allows the use of the
full potential of the photoacoustic
phenomena

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Photoacoustic spectroscopy
Cantilever Enhanced Photoacoustics
•MEMS cantilever from silicon
•Contactless optical measurement based
on laser interferometry
•Over 100 times greater physical
movement can be achieved compared
to conventional microphone membrane
•Measures cantilever displacements
smaller than picometer (10-12 m)
•Extremely wide dynamic measurement
range

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Photoacoustic spectroscopy

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Widely tunable DFB QCL array
DFB QCL’s
• 32 DFB QCL’s in single chip
• Integrated photonics multiplexer with SiGE/Si
and Ge/SiGe waveguides
• 7.4 µm for detection of explosives and drugs
• 9.1 µm for detection of drugs, drug precursors
and human
waveguide multiplexer
Advantages of QCL array
• room temperature operation
• robust
• low cost
• high stability

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Expected sensitivity
Simulated results for QCL-array (5 mW) with MIRPAS module

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MIRPAS Chemometrics
• DOGGIES data analysis approach fuses four
independent algorithms trained separately for creating a
combined classificationtraining model
• Supervised learning built on a spectroscopic VOC library
• Library can be unlimitedly updated with new VOCs at
anytime
TrainingMeasuring

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MIRPAS Chemometrics
TRAINING PERFORMANCE
CONDITION FULFILLED: # VARIABLES > # LIBRARY VOCs

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Lab testing of the prototypes
Headspace measurement of drugs and explosives
with MIRPAS and commercially available EC-QCL.
Measurements done at INPS, Lyon.

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Lab testing of the prototypes

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Lab testing of the prototypes
Drug precursors with MIRPAS and commercially available EC-QCL.
Measurement done at Gasera.

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Demonstrator for field tests
1st QCL array realization
• 7.4 µm, pulsed operated QCL
• 9/22 QCL’s coupled to the waveguide
• collimated output
• Output power << 1 mW
• Integrated into the project demonstrator

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Demonstrator for field tests

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Demonstrator for field tests
Ion Mobility Spectrometer
MIRPAS-module
MIRPAS
Pre-concentrator
Photoacoustic
cell
QCL array

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Demonstrator for field tests
Lab measurements with
MIRPAS and 1st QCL array

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Field tests, KEMEA, Athens

21. Conclusions
www.fp7-doggies.com
DOGGIES project aims at demonstrating:
•An operational movable stand-alone sensor for an
efficient detection of hidden persons, drugs & explosives
•“Orthogonal” trace detection
•Mid-Infrared spectroscopy, based on photoacoustic
detection (PAS) with widely tunable integrated MIR
source i.e. MIRPAS
•Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS), with non-
radioactive ionization source
•Using specific pre-concentrators and advanced software
to provide reliable detection in real environments
21
✓
✓
✓
✓

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