New device could shrink metal and gas detection systems

Feb 27, 2006 3:34 PM

           

A tiny detector developed at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is sleek, sophisticated and designed for secrecy. Known as SysChip (for System on a Chip), the sensor is shaped like a computer chip with a 40-pin integrated circuit that can plug into just about any of today's electronic gadgets.
The initial SysChip is a fully functional metal detector, but Lee Bzorgi and his research staff are already developing future models that can detect about 20 gases, including chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and radiation, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
The idea is to give military personnel or law enforcement officers another detection tool that doesn't drag them down with extra gear or heavy equipment.
"You can basically have a metal detector that's the size of a badge or a gas detector that's a little larger than the button on your shirt," Bzorgi, director of Y-12's National Security Technology Center, told the newspaper.
Y-12 has been testing a prototype of SysChip embedded in a mitt, which security police can use to check baggage and workers passing through portals. The chip is about 2 inches long, half an inch wide, and a quarter of an inch thick. The biggest component is a 9-volt battery.
"We're making it a common size to electronics," Bzorgi said. "The idea is to make it easier for manufacturers to incorporate it into their electronics."
Bzorgi said Y-12 researchers presented a number of concepts to a team from the Department of Defense, and SysChip was the team's first choice for development. It was seen as practical and relevant, whether on the streets of Baghdad or patrolling the borders of the United States, he said.
The plan is to make products that are cost-effective, although Bzorgi declined to estimate what versions of SysChip might cost commercially.

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