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There is a critical need throughout DoD, the U.S. government, and the commercial sector for cost-effective monitoring systems to detect airborne biological warfare (BW) agents. At present, solutions for this sensor need are relatively expensive and have a high false alarm rate. Manning Applied Technology is developing a compact, portable bioaerosol sampling system for continuous monitoring of air quality, both at field locations and fixed installations. The instrument is premised on optical interrogation via a multi-step process. The first step is electrostatic concentration, to improve detection limits. An advantage of electrostatic particle concentration is the power efficiency, relative to impactors, cyclones and filter-based systems. The second step is presentation for particle analysis, which would employ one of several unique FT spectrometer designs. The advantage of spectroscopic interrogation of bioaerosol particles is the very low cost of each analysis, with no consumables required. It is thought that mid-IR and THz frequency ranges offer the best potential for accurate discrimination. The third, optional step, is archiving the collected particles for further analysis. To reduce component costs in the Fourier transform spectrometer, an optical replication process has been developed and tested, with promising results. The replication and optical testing methods are described in detail.
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