PROGRAM AREA OVERVIEW --
DEFENSE NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION
The worldwide proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and their missile delivery systems is one of the most serious dangers confronting the United States. This danger is continuing, with far-reaching consequences for international security and stability. Based on the highly specialized scientific, technical, analytical, and operational capabilities of the Department and its National Laboratories, the Department of Energy (DOE), through its Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (NN), is uniquely suited to provide leadership in national and international efforts to reduce the danger to U.S. national security posed by WMD. Within NN, the Office of Nonproliferation Research and Engineering conducts applied research, development, testing, and evaluation ( and leverages the work of others ( to produce technologies that lead to prototype demonstrations and resultant detection systems, thereby strengthening the U.S. response to current and projected threats to national security and world peace posed by the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and the diversion of special nuclear material. Specific objectives include developing technologies for: (1) remote detection of the early stages of a proliferant's nuclear weapons program; (2) location, identification, and characterization of nuclear explosions underground, underwater, in the atmosphere, and in space, to enhance the U.S. nuclear explosion monitoring capability; (3) nuclear materials protection, control and accounting; monitoring nuclear arms control agreements; and detecting the movement of nuclear materials; (4) and detecting the proliferation or use of chemical and biological agents, and minimizing their consequences. Developed technologies are transitioned to other government users or are directly commercialized.
Small businesses that submit grant applications under the following topics are encouraged to collaborate (formally or informally) with DOE national laboratories. Where necessary, collaborations may be arranged after awards are made. The objective is to help the small businesses get a better understanding of DOE's requirements and to help integrate each company with the potential DOE-related users of the technology.
36. SENSOR TECHNOLOGY FOR DETECTING THE
PROLIFERATION OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for the development of systems for detecting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. In both cooperative and non-cooperative environments, it is necessary to have the capability to detect the production, storage, transportation, and testing of such weapons. DOE's overall objective is to provide this capability by putting state-of-the-art technologies and tools in the hands of the treaty verification, law enforcement, and other relevant communities. Grant applications are sought only in the following subtopics:
a. Room Temperature Gamma Spectroscopy - Light-weight, portable gamma-ray spectrometers with high energy resolution and efficiency are needed. Therefore, grant applications are sought for the development of new detection materials and/or improved methods for growing large volume crystals used for gamma-ray spectroscopy. Proposed materials (such as wide band gap semi-conductors, gasses and scintillators) must function at room temperature or be cooled with compact electrical (i.e., Peltier) units; have superior energy resolution to that now available with conventional scintillation materials; and have a detection efficiency greater than that of presently-available room temperature semiconductors. Techniques for growing crystals must yield single crystal volumes of 5 to 10 cubic centimeters or better and have excellent characteristics for gamma-ray spectroscopy (uniformity, impurities, resistivity, charge transport). Techniques that achieve high yields of large-size spectrometer-grade crystals are preferred. Applications can include modeling efforts to better understand the thermodynamics of different crystal growth processes.
Grant applications are also sought for the development of rugged, robust gamma-ray spectrometers that take advantage of the latest advancements in material development, signal processing, new detector shapes, electrode configurationsl, and/or other innovations. Detectors must operate at room temperature, have better than 2 percent energy resolution at 662 keV, and have an efficiency that approaches that of a 1-inch by 1-inch sodium iodide scintillator.
b. Biological Agent Detection - Early detection of a biological attack, whether by direct detection of airborne biological agents or rapid detection of those who have been exposed (pre-symptomatic), is essential to minimize the impact of such attacks. Grant applications are sought for improvements in techniques that specifically capture biological pathogens and allow for signal transduction. Of particular interest are approaches that would ultimately lead to improved biological detection through higher sensitivity, specificity, or shelf-live of reagents, or via decreased dependence on reagent use or sample preparation. Proposed approaches need not be antigen-based, but may include nucleic acid recognition or other possible mechanisms. Samples could be either gaseous or aqueous base. Approaches of interest include, but are not limited to, structurally based ligand design, molecularly imprinted polymers, combinatorial receptor design or phage display. Preference will be given to approaches that have broad application to classes of pathogens and detect biological targets relevant to the Chemical and Biological National Security Program (CBNP) mission (see http://www.nn.doe.gov/cbnp), rather than those that focus loosely on surrogate compounds.
c. Advanced Research in Support of Nuclear Explosion Monitoring - The DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is responsible for the research and development necessary to provide the U.S. Government with capabilities for monitoring nuclear explosions, through its Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research and Engineering (NEM R&E) program. The NEM R&E program provides research products to the Air Force Technical Applications Center, which collects and analyzes data from a network of seismic, radionuclide, hydroacoustic, and infrasound data collection stations. Within the context of one or more of these technologies, grant applications are sought to develop algorithms, hardware, and software for improved event detection, location, and identification at thresholds and confidence levels that meet U.S. requirements in a cost-effective manner. Grant applications must demonstrate how the proposed approaches would complement and be coordinated with ongoing or completed work (see http://www.nemre.nn.doe.gov/coordination) while improving capability.
Program priorities focus primarily on the advancement of seismic technologies to accurately locate and identify events. Seismic identification of an underground nuclear explosion includes the ability to discriminate it from non-relevant events such as earthquakes and non-nuclear man-made events. The accuracy of both seismic location and identification methods depends on regional studies that provide high-quality ground truth information (geology, meteorological conditions, data on man-made events, etc.) and/or seismic wave propagation information that allow calibration of individual stations for travel times and/or amplitudes. High quality ground-truth data are of particular interest. Any proposed modeling effort must be strongly tied to regional data or must demonstrate applicability to a particularly distinct geophysical region.
Although priorities for the other technologies are not as high, the following areas are also of interest: (1) the development of innovative sensor designs, signal-processing techniques, or instrumentation that significantly improve signal-to-noise ratios for improved infrasound signal detection; (2) a procedure to determine the size of an infrasound event; and (3) new approaches to radionuclide instrumentation where benefits to sensitivity, reliability, or function can be achieved. Sensors must be compact, inexpensive, easily manufactured, reliable under adverse conditions, robust, simple to maintain, and have low power requirements.
d. Enrichment of Atmospheric Xenon by Selective Membrane Transfer - To detect radioactive xenon, the xenon must be enriched in air. Enrichment based on selective membranes is a preferred approach because it does not require cryogenic fluids. Xenon enrichers were proven effective even with the membranes available 20 years ago. Therefore, grant applications are sought for the development of new membrane materials, membrane packaging, and enrichment strategies to build the smallest and most efficient xenon enricher possible. Integration of new materials and/or new membrane configurations (such as spiral wound modules or hollow fiber bundles) into small, light weight systems will require test and evaluation for comparison to commercially available membranes. Therefore, it is recommended that applications include the development of a xenon membrane enrichment test system. The enrichment test system's input power must be less than 1.9 kilowatts. The output must be 2.0 liters/minute (measured at one atmosphere) at a pressure of 100 pounds per square inch gauge with xenon enrichment by at least 30 times the input level. The output gas must be dry (-40°F dew point). The enrichment test system should be smaller than 30 inches wide, 20 inches deep, and 40 inches high.
|
Please note: (1) The technical topics are to be interpreted literally, and all grant applications must respond to a particular topic and subtopic. (2) Last year only 1 out of 4 grant applications were awarded; only those applications with high scientific/technical quality will be competitive. |
References
Subtopic a: Room Temperature Gamma Spectroscopy
1. James, R. B. and Schirato, R. C., eds., Hard X-Ray Gamma-Ray and Neutron Detector Physics II, San Diego, CA, July 31-Aug. 2, 2000, SPIE proceedings series, Vol. 4141, Bellingham, WA: SPIE, c2000. (ISBN: 0819437867) (This is a collection of some of the most recent work on the subject.)
2. James, R. B., et al., Semiconductors for Room Temperature Radiation Detector Applications II, Boston, MA, December 1-5. 1997, in Materials Research Society symposium proceedings, Vol. 487, Warrendale, PA: Materials Research Society, 1997. (ISBN 1558993924)
3. Schlesinger, T. E. and James, R. B., eds., Semiconductors for Room Temperature Nuclear Detector Applications, Semiconductors and Semimetals series, Vol. 43, San Diego, CA: Academic Press, c1995. (Vol. 43 ISBN: 0127521437) (Series ISSN: 0080-8784)
Subtopic b: Biological Agent Detection
4. U.S. Department of Energy
Chemical and Biological National Security Program
http://www.nn.doe.gov/cbnp
Subtopics c: Advanced Research in Support of Nuclear Explosion Monitoring
5. U.S. Department of EnergySubtopics d: Enrichment of Atmospheric Xenon by Selective Membrane Transfer
6. Ohno, Masayoshi, et al., "Radioactive Rare Gas Separation of a Two-Unit Series-Type Separation Cell," Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 15(9):668-677, September 1978. (ISSN 0022-3131)
7. Ohno, Masayoshi, et al., "Radioactive Rare Gas Separation Using a Separation Cell with Two Kinds of Membrane Differing in Gas Permeability Tendency," Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 14(8):589-602, August 1977. (ISSN 0022-3131)
8. Stern, S. A. and Wang, S. C., "Permeation Cascades for the Separation of Krypton and Xenon from Nuclear Reactor Atmospheres," AlChE Journal, 26(6):891-901, November 1980. (ISSN: 0001-1541)
37. SUPPORT TECHNOLOGIES FOR SENSORS USED IN
NATIONAL SECURITY APPLICATIONS
a. Small, Lightweight Power Sources for Handheld Sensors - Grant applications are sought for the development of small, lightweight power sources for handheld sensors. New, innovative and hopefully breakthrough research is encouraged; therefore, final application specific development and design may not be achievable during the life cycle of the SBIR project. However, Phase II research must demonstrate the ability to develop a power source with a power density greater than 500 Watt hours per kilogram in a package that weighs less than 3 kilograms. Proposed approaches must account for the practical limitations on safety, environmental issues (generation and disposal of hazardous waste), and cost. Typical handheld sensors used in cooperative scenarios require relatively low currents and high voltages and will be used in ambient temperatures.
b. Transportable Continuous Wave Electron Accelerators - To help facilitate field implementation and demonstration of active interrogation-based, non-destructive examination (NDE) techniques for national security applications, grant applications are sought to develop transportable continuous wave electron accelerators that operate at 3 to 4 Million Electron Volts (MeV) with user control beam power output between 0.1 and 5 kilowatts. Applicants should assume that power would be available on site. The use of cranes is acceptable for moving and transporting the system; however, it is preferred that the accelerator can be broken down into two-person portable components. Field implementation of the accelerator-based NDE system also will require that radiation exposure to surrounding personnel be minimized; therefore, applicants must maximize the use of "Cabinet Safe" designs to limit lateral (i.e., non-centerline forward) photon doses to 0.5 to 2 milliRad per hour at a defined radiological boundary within several meters of the accelerator. Flexible operation and control will be needed to accommodate many different applications; therefore, integrated monitoring and real-time user control of all major operational parameters must be incorporated in the design. All parameters must be updated in less than 0.5 seconds and be available (in both digital and analog forms) to the user. The electron transmission ratio through the electron/photon converter must be less than 10-6.
c. Infrared Transmitters for Remote Chemical Sensing - The implementation of Mid Wave Infrared (MWIR) and Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) active remote chemical sensor systems require better more robust transmitter technologies. Although current CO2 technology offers a near-term solution for laboratory and field prototype systems, technological improvements are required to move towards more spectrally diverse, portable, and easily deployed systems. Grant applications are sought for the development of:
(1) cascaded non-linear devices, such as multi-stage Optical Parametric Oscillators or Sum/Difference Frequency Generators, as LWIR light sources with high tuning rate operation (>10 kHz) and transmit a narrow line width (approximately 1cm-1) integrated into an efficient, compact unit;
(2) new materials for LWIR non-linear optical devices, for example, patterned materials analogous to periodically poled lithium niobate but operating in the LWIR.
(3) MWIR sources or pump sources for non-linear LWIR sources based on low phonon energy host materials (such as ZnSe, CdSe, CaGa2, and KPb2Cl5) using either transition metal ions (Fe, Cr, etc.) or rare-earth ions as the optically active site with broad tunability, high repetition rate, and high average power; and
(4) thermo electrically-cooled, continuous-wave (cw) output, MWIR & LWIR Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) devices for miniature laser transmitters with single longitudinal mode operation. (A reduction in threshold current - by improved thermal engineering, materials processing, etc. - is a typical approach to allow cw operation near room temperature. Single-facet output power greater than 10 milliWatts is required.)
d. Infrared Detection for Remote Chemical Sensing - Remote chemical sensing using passive and active Mid Wave Infrared (MWIR) and Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) absorption techniques has been progressing toward the use of larger format detector arrays, increased on-chip processing, and high-performance thermo-electrically cooled detectors. Therefore, grant applications are sought for the development of:
(1) long, pseudo-linear detector arrays (on the order of 1024 x 32) for use with imaging, dispersive spectrometers. (With many applications requiring high spectral resolution and large spectral coverage, a large number of pixels is required. A single, large-format array would allow significant spectral coverage for sensitive detection across the LWIR and even into the MWIR. In addition to increased spatial resolution, the large format array allows for the application of a dispersive spectrometer for filtering.)
(2) imaging, heterodyne detection arrays that demonstrate on-chip processing to enable large format, two dimensional arrays for infrared remote sensing. (The ability to move heterodyne signal processing on-chip should allow for increased capabilities and application. The sensitivity of a heterodyne receiver would make large field-of-view laser imaging possible, with additional capabilities offered by the added frequency and phase measurement in the heterodyne signal processing.)
(3) superior thermo-electrically cooled (TEC) LWIR detectors. (High temperature infrared detectors typically generate large direct-current photocurrents; therefore, novel solutions are sought that will mitigate this negative characteristic. In Phase I, the applicant must demonstrate the development of a high performance TEC (20o to -40oC) LWIR (8-12 micron) single-element detector with a moderate to high frequency response. Phase II must include the development of a small format array (less than 10 x 10) with reduced frequency response for potential use in integrated detector/QCL (Quantum Cascade Laser) based remote chemical sensing systems. Single element detectors must have a bandwidth greater than 10 MegaHertz and a normalized detectivity (D*) better than 108 cmHz1/2/W.)
|
Please note: (1) The technical topics are to be interpreted literally, and all grant applications must respond to a particular topic and subtopic. (2) Last year only 1 out of 4 grant applications were awarded; only those applications with high scientific/technical quality will be competitive. |
References
1. Bourquin, S., et al., "Video-Rate Optical Low-Coherence Reflectometry Based on a Linear Smart Detector Array," Optics Letters, 25(2):102, January 15, 2000. (ISSN: 0146-9592)
2. Gordon, N., et al., "MCT infrared detectors with close to radiatively limited performance at 240 K in the 3-5 μ m band," Journal of Electronic Materials, 29(6):818-822, June 2000. (ISSN 0361-5235)
3. Hofstetter, D., et al., "Continuous wave operation of a 9.3 μm quantum cascade laser on a Peltier cooler," Applied Physics Letters, 78(14):1964-1966, April 2, 2001. (ISSN: 0003-6951)
4. Jones, J. L., et al., Proof-of-Concept Assessment of a Photofission-Based Interrogation System for the Detection of Shielded Nuclear Material, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, November 2000. (Report No. INEEL/EXT-2000-01523) (Contact INEEL Freedom of Information Act Reading Room. Telephone: 208-526-9162) (Available on DOE Information Bridge. URL: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/786855-6xA0wX/native/. )
5. Keyes, R. J. "Heterodyne and Nonheterodyne Laser Transceivers," Review of Scientific Instruments, 57(4): 519-528, April 1986. (ISSN: 0034-6748)
6. Mohseni, H. and Razeghi, M., "Long-Wavelength Type-II Photodiodes Operating at Room Temperature," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 13(5):517-519, May 2001. (ISSN: 1041-1135)
7. Norton, P. R., "Status of Infrared Detectors," Infrared Detectors and Focal Plane Arrays V, Proceedings of SPIE-- the International Society for Optical Engineering, 3379:102-114, 1998. (ISSN 0277-786X) (ISBN 0819428280)
8. Page, H., et al., "Demonstration of λ11.5-Fm GaAs-based quantum cascade laser operating on a Peltier cooled element," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 13(6):556-558, June 2001. (ISSN: 1041-1135)
9. Pierrottet, D. F., and Senft, D. C., "CO2 Coherent Differential Absorption LIDAR," Chemical and Biological Sensing, Proceedings of SPIE, 4036:17-23, 2000. (ISSN: 0277-786X) (ISBN: 0819436623)
10. Simpson, M. L., et al., "Coherent Imaging with Two-Dimensional Focal-Plane Arrays: Design and Applications," Applied Optics, 36(27):6913-6920, September 20, 1997. (ISSN: 0003-6935)
11. Weitzel, L., et al., "3D: The Next Generation Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer," Astronomy & Astrophysics Supplement Series, 119(3):531-46, November 1, 1996. (ISSN: 0365-0138)
Wells, D. P., et al., "'Cabinet-Safe' Study of 1-8 MeV Electon Accelerators," National Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 463(1):118-128, May 1, 2001. (ISSN: 0168-9002)