NASA SBIR 2007 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Novawave Technologies
900 Island Drive, Suite 101
Redwood City, CA 94065 - 5176
(650) 610-0956

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Joshua B Paul
jbpaul@novawavetech.com
900 Island Dr
Redwood City, CA 94065 - 5176
(650) 610-0956

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
The Small Business Innovative Research Phase II proposal seeks to develop a compact UV laser –based sensor for Earth science and planetary atmosphere exploration. The device will be capable of measuring formaldehyde in real-time at ultra-trace levels. The sensor is based on a revolutionary, single frequency tunable UV fiber laser that was successfully demonstrated for the first time during Phase I. This laser was mated with a detection cell and high fidelity formaldehyde spectra were obtained. The Phase II sensor will be compact and capable of detecting formaldehyde at ppt levels, and may be capable of simultaneously detecting NO2, an important pollutant.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
NASA applications for the instrument described in this proposal include the interrogation of extraterrestrial atmospheres for trace species, as well as in the study of Earth's atmosphere and the monitoring of cabin air in crewed exploration vehicles. The described instrument will have potential applications in atmospheric chemistry and satellite validation performed on umanned aerial systems (UAS).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The worldwide market for gas sensors with the capabilities of the proposed system is significant. Numerous potential applications can be found in trace gas monitoring, pollution monitoring, and industrial process control.

NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING

Optical Photonics