Patent ID: 7244288

Claim:
A method for the rapid desorption of adsorbed gases in a vapor concentrator system comprising: providing a chamber with at least one entrance orifice and at least one exit orifice for the passage of vapor; providing a carrier gas moved by a gas pump to assist the passage of trace target vapor into and out of said chamber; providing at least one substrate with a surface for the concentration of said trace target vapor within said chamber; providing at least one lamp that emits photons in optical communication with said surface of said substrate; providing an electronic circuit that energizes said lamp, wherein the lamp is induced to produce a main pulse of photons with a duration less than 100 milliseconds; passing gas containing said trace target vapor over said substrate to accumulate said target vapor through adsorption on said surface; emitting said main pulse of photons to induce said trace target vapor to rapidly desorb from said surface of said substrate; and passing said carrier gas over said substrate to assist said desorbed trace target vapor in being swept from said chamber through said exit orifice.