2020-2023
SWS partners with Southwest Research Institute to develop instruments under NASA funded space science programs (2020 – 2023)
Southwest Sciences is partnering with Southwest Research Institute to develop planetary research instrumentation under NASA's MatISSE and DALI programs. These projects involve development and maturation of a widely tunable infrared spectrometer based on multiple external cavity QCL lasers. Southwest Sciences is providing optical design and optical subsystems to these efforts as well as developing data reduction algorithms. (Contact: Kristen Peterson)
2022
Compact, low power instruments for atmospheric trace gas analysis aboard EPA's unmanned aerial systems
Three compact, low power gas analyzers (for hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide and methane) are being provided to the Environmental Protection Agency. The instruments are designed to make airborne environmental measurements on an unmanned quadcopter. The analyzers are 21x8x8 cm in size, weigh 680 g and use 1.2 W of power. The compact design uses an external path double pass optical cell and either WMS or direct absorbance to provide measurements at 1 Hz. The system includes an SD card for data storage, GPS tracking and serial communications. These instruments may be modified to measure other gases or to be mounted on other small aerial platforms. (Contact: Joel Silver).
2022
Southwest Sciences provides optical magnetometry heads for TRIUMPF neutron electric dipole moment experiment
Researchers at the University of Winnipeg selected the Southwest Sciences OMAG100 optical magnetometer head for measuring the magnetic field and gradients for the joint Japan-Canada neutron electric dipole moment experiment at the TRIUMPF facility. The TRIUMPF nEDM experiment seeks to test the Standard Model of particle physics by putting very stringent limits on the magnitude of the electric dipole moment of the neutron. This requires exposing ultra-cold neutrons to a strong electric field in a very homogeneous and stable magnetic field. An array of OMAG100 sensor heads will be used to measure the magnetic field and its gradients. The fiberized, all-optical design of the OMAG100 minimizes perturbations to the magnetic field and avoids issues with arcing that would plague conventional magnetometers with their electrical connections. The OMAG100 is based on a design developed with UC Berkeley and refined at Technical University Munich. (contact: Chris Hovde)More news from the archives
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