Patent ID: 8299424

Claim:
A system for performing a chemical analysis of substances in an underwater environment at a particular depth, comprising a housing, an inlet assembly, connected to the housing and capable of allowing one or more substances from the underwater environment to diffuse into the housing, wherein the inlet assembly includes an inlet body, a recess, an inlet membrane disposed proximate to the recess, and a backing plate positioned within the recess such that a gap is created between the inlet body and the backing plate for the substances to pass through the inlet membrane and the recess, a vacuum chamber disposed within the housing, capable of maintaining a vacuum and connected to the inlet assembly for receiving the one or more substances, an NEG-ion pump disposed within the housing and connected to the vacuum chamber for generating a vacuum therein, an analyzer disposed within the vacuum chamber for detecting one or more of the substances, and a magnet disposed near the vacuum chamber for generating a magnetic field within a portion of the analyzer.