The development of a miniature, simple, inexpensive IR spectro photometer will provide a means of chemical sensing and measurement for application in drug detection, toxic waste management, and cabin atmosphere monitoring. Opcoa proposes to apply micro-electro-optics to the various components of the various components of an IR spectrophotometer not only to reduce the size and power requirements of the system but also to enhance sensitivity and reliability. Using an electrically tunable Fabry-Perot filter instead of the conventional rotating grating or filter wheel, an optical fiber internal or evanescent propagating field instead of a sample chamber, and a semiconductor cooled IR detector instead of a pyroelectric detector will exploit recently developed technologies for the system development. The entire system is controlled by and has its analysis (Kalman filter) performed by a microprocessor.
