초록 ▼

A laser and monitoring system is provided. In another aspect of the present invention, the system includes a laser, pulse shaper and detection device. A further aspect of the present invention employs a femtosecond laser and binary pulse shaping (BPS). Still another aspect of the present invention u

A laser and monitoring system is provided. In another aspect of the present invention, the system includes a laser, pulse shaper and detection device. A further aspect of the present invention employs a femtosecond laser and binary pulse shaping (BPS). Still another aspect of the present invention uses a laser beam pulse, a pulse shaper and a SHG crystal. In yet another aspect of the present invention, a multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan (hereinafter “MIIPS”) method is used to characterize the spectral phase of femtosecond laser pulses and to correct them. A further aspect of the system of the present invention is employed to monitor environmental chemicals and biological agents, including toxins, explosives, and diseases.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method of operating a system comprising: (a) emitting a transform limited laser beam pulse at a specimen;(b) varying the shape of the transform limited laser beam pulse;(c) detecting a mass spectrum using the varied shape transform limited laser beam pulse;(d) automatically emitting multiple ad

1. A method of operating a system comprising: (a) emitting a transform limited laser beam pulse at a specimen;(b) varying the shape of the transform limited laser beam pulse;(c) detecting a mass spectrum using the varied shape transform limited laser beam pulse;(d) automatically emitting multiple additional laser beam pulses of different pre-determined shapes after steps (a)-(c);(e) automatically and electronically analyzing the detected mass spectrum and ranking them based on closeness to a target spectrum;(f) repeating steps (d)-(e) to statistically improve detected values without inversion procedures; and(g) ranking the likelihood that a compound has been detected and identified. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the laser beam pulses are less than about 50 femtoseconds. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transform limited pulse is less than about 35 femtoseconds. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the specimen is a hazardous molecule. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: (a) storing the selected and ranked mass spectra in a memory library;(b) monitoring an environment of unknown chemicals; and(c) automatically determining which chemicals in the environment are acceptable and which are unacceptable. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a programmable controller to positively identify a previously unknown agent, if the agent is automatically determined by the controller to be harmful. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the specimen with the laser beam pulse in the breath of a person. 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the specimen with the laser beam pulse in a building ventilation system. 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the specimen with the laser beam pulse on clothing of a person. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting the presence of and identifying a disease in the specimen. 11. A method of operating a building monitoring system comprising: (a) emitting a laser beam pulse of less than about 50 femtoseconds;(b) shaping the laser beam pulse;(c) detecting characteristics of an environmental agent in the building ventilation system in response to steps (a) and (b), without requiring iteration;(d) using a programmable controller to determine a characteristic of the agent, and positively identifying the agent, which was previously unknown to the controller if the agent is determined to be harmful; and(e) the preceding steps being performed without inversion procedures. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the controller automatically monitoring multiple discrete areas within the building. 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the controller automatically determining if the agent is moving between the discrete areas. 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the controller automatically changing the operation of the ventilation system to isolate contaminated ones of the discrete areas. 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the countermeasure further comprises automatically venting the agent to the atmosphere external to a building containing the ventilation system. 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the countermeasure further comprises automatically closing a door in a building containing the ventilation system. 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the countermeasure further comprises automatically flowing water into a building containing the ventilation system. 18. The method of claim 11, wherein the countermeasure further comprises automatically injecting at least one of: a neutralizing agent and antidote, of the agent into a building containing the ventilation system. 19. The method of claim 11, further comprising varying a pre-determined characteristic of the pulse with a pulse shaper controlled by the controller. 20. The method of claim 11, further comprising detecting a mass spectrum of the agent with a mass spectrometer connected to the controller. 21. The method of claim 11, further comprising using the controller for characterization and compensation of undesired distortions in the pulse in a calculated manner. 22. The method of claim 11, wherein the agent is a chemical molecule. 23. The method of claim 11, wherein the agent is a biological pathogen. 24. The method of claim 11, wherein the agent is associated with a human breathable disease. 25. The method of claim 11, further comprising the controller automatically varying a sampling rate of the detector depending upon the determination results. 26. A method of operating a system comprising: (a) emitting six or less transform limited laser pulses of different pre-determined shapes at an environmental airborne specimen;(b) sensing characteristics of the airborne specimen acted upon by at least one of the pulses;(c) automatically determining if the airborne specimen is an acceptable agent or an undesirable agent;(d) using software instructions to access memory containing a library of characteristics of acceptable and undesirable environmental airborne specimens, and using software instructions to compare the real-time sensed characteristics to those stored in the memory; and(e) the preceding steps being free of inversion procedures. 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the shapes of the pulses used to identify the agent were created using an evolutionary learning algorithm in a laboratory prior to operating the system in the field. 28. The method of claim 26, wherein each of the transform limited pulses has a duration of less than about 50 femtoseconds. 29. The method of claim 26, further comprising a controller automatically varying a sampling rate of the sensing step depending upon the determining step. 30. The method of claim 26, further comprising using a programmable controller with software to characterize and correct for distortions in the pulses by varying the shape of the pulses, in a calculated rather than evolutionary learning manner. 31. A method of operating a system comprising: (a) emitting shaped laser pulses of different pre-determined shapes at a specimen with no iteration;(b) monitoring the specimen in a repetitive manner;(c) electronically comparing characteristics obtained in response to the pulse interaction with the specimen, to a library database of acceptable background characteristics; and(d) using a programmable controller to determine if an undesirable disease is present in the specimen and if so, identifying the disease. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein each of the laser beam pulses are less than about 50 femtoseconds. 33. The method of claim 31, wherein the monitoring, emitting, comparing and identifying steps are all automatically controlled and operated by a computer, and the pulses are all transform limited and shaped by an active pulse shaper. 34. The method of claim 31, wherein the programmable controller determines if a hazardous chemical or biohazard is present in the specimen and if so, identifying the hazardous chemical or biohazard. 35. The method of claim 31, wherein the programmable controller determines if there is a harmful amount of an undesirable agent present in the specimen relative to acceptable amounts of background levels of the undesirable agent. 36. A method of operating a system comprising: (a) emitting an initial transform limited laser beam pulse at a specimen in air outside of a laboratory;(b) detecting a mass spectrum using the transform limited laser beam pulse;(c) automatically emitting no more than six pre-determined shaped laser pulses after steps (a)-(b), free from an evolutionary learning program and without iteration;(d) detecting mass spectra using the no more than six pre-determined shaped laser pulses;(e) automatically and electronically analyzing the detected mass spectra and identifying the specimen;(f) performing the previous steps without inversion procedures;(g) storing the mass spectra in a memory library;(h) monitoring an environment of unknown chemicals; and(i) automatically determining which chemicals in the environment are acceptable and which are unacceptable. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the three pre-determined shaped laser pulses are previously created by an evolutionary learning program in a laboratory. 38. The method of claim 36, wherein the transform limited pulse is less than about 35 femtoseconds. 39. The method of claim 36, wherein the no more than six pre-determined shaped laser pulses are less than about 50 femtoseconds. 40. The method of claim 36, wherein the specimen is a hazardous molecule. 41. The method of claim 36, further comprising using a programmable controller to positively identify a previously unknown agent, if the agent is automatically determined by the controller to be harmful. 42. The method of claim 36, further comprising detecting the presence of and identifying a disease in the specimen. 43. A method of operating a system comprising: (a) emitting different shaped laser pulses at possibly harmful specimens, the different shaped laser pulses being automatically chosen from shaped laser pulses previously stored in the memory of a controller;(b) monitoring the specimens with a transform limited laser pulse without requiring inversion procedures;(c) comparing mass spectra with the mass spectra of acceptable background chemicals; and(d) automatically identifying harmful items based at least in part on the mass spectrum comparisons. 44. The method of claim 43, further comprising monitoring the area in repetitive intervals of about one minute or less for a nominal condition. 45. The method of claim 43, further comprising monitoring the area in repetitive intervals which are automatically increased if suspicious items are identified. 46. The method of claim 43, wherein the monitoring, emitting, analyzing, comparing and identifying steps are all automatically controlled and operated by a computer. 47. The method of claim 43, wherein the transform limited laser pulse has a duration of less than about 50 femtoseconds. 48. The method of claim 43, further comprising controlling nonlinear optical processes induced by the laser pulse. 49. The method of claim 43, further comprising using a programmable controller to positively identify a previously unknown agent, if the agent is automatically determined by the controller to be harmful.