Patent ID: 7868295

Claim:
A combined chemical and biological sensor system, comprising: at least one micro-cantilever sensing element; means for collecting at least one of aerosol, liquid, and solid particles, and depositing by adsorption the particles onto the at least one micro-cantilever and forming a stack including a film layer with the deposited particles on the at least one micro-cantilever sensing element, the deposited particles including one or more chemical or biological species to be analyzed; at least one source of plane polarized light adapted to: illuminate with plane polarized light the particles on the at least one micro-cantilever sensing element at a grazing incidence angle to a specific wavelength of light, the plane polarized light being polarized substantially in a plane parallel to the stack; and radiate and thereby heat the at least one micro-cantilever sensing element with different wavelengths of the plane polarized light spectrum; and readout electronics, communicatively coupled with the at least one micro-cantilever sensing element, for detecting movement of the at least one micro-cantilever sensing element as a result of heat transfer to the at least one micro-cantilever sensing element from the light on the stack including the one or more chemical or biological species present, and the readout electronics further for providing photothermal spectral data signals corresponding to the detected movement of the at least one micro-cantilever sensing element; a data collection system, communicatively coupled with the readout electronics, for collecting the photothermal spectral data signals from the readout electronics; and a spectral analyzer, communicatively coupled with the data collection system, for spectrally analyzing the collected photothermal spectral data signals representing at least one photothermal signature of sensed chemical or biological species, and further for identifying one or more chemical or biological species present.