Development of a Near-Market-Ready Miniature Raman Probe

开发接近上市的微型拉曼探针

• 批准号: ST/Y509863/1
• 负责人: Robert Thomson
• 金额: $ 52.78万
• 依托单位: Heriot-Watt University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FY509863%2F1
• 关键词: Development; Near; Market; Ready; Miniature

Raman probes are fibre-coupled devices that use fibre optics to transmit excitation laser light to a sample, capture the resulting Raman signal, and transmit that signal back to a spectrometer for analysis. As such, they provide versatility in terms of sample positioning relative to a Raman spectrometer. Conventional Raman probes have dimensions measured in cm's, but there are applications in areas such as healthcare, manufacturing, and metrology, that require mm-scale and even sub-mm Raman probes. The manufacture of miniature fibre-coupled Raman probes is not trivial, as they usually consist of multiple micro-optic components for focusing, collimating, and filtering the pump and Raman signals, and although mm-scale probes have been demonstrated, they have proven to be too expensive for widespread commercial applications. Recently, we demonstrated how miniature Raman probes can be manufactured using an emerging manufacturing technique known as Ultrafast-Laser-Assisted Etching (ULAE), which relies on the nonlinear absorption of ultrashort laser pulses to directly write structural modifications inside a dielectric material such as fused silica glass. If correctly controlled, the laser-modified material can exhibit a ~1000-fold increase in KOH chemical etch rate compared to the pristine material, enabling fabrication of exquisite mm-scale fused silica micro-optic components with micron-scale precision. In addition to facilitating the manufacture of freeform micro-optics that would be difficult to realise with conventional approaches, a key advantage of ULAE is that the micro-optics can be monolithically integrated with passive alignment structures for fibres and other parts. This aspect could be particularly advantageous for volume manufacturing, to circumvent the time and cost involved in active alignment.We have recently demonstrated the use of ULAE to manufacture a prototype sub-mm fibre-coupled Raman probe that exhibits many performance aspects required for a commercial offering. There remains, however, several Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and Market Readiness Level (MRL) aspects that require development to take the current Raman probe to a near-market-ready state. This project will address these aspects by (i) demonstrating the integration of spatially selective multi-layer coatings onto the Raman probe, (ii) demonstrating the CO2 laser polishing of the Raman probe's optical surfaces, (iii) demonstrating that Raman probes can be manufactured at scale, and (iv) quantifying the performance of the Raman probe technology in collaboration with our project partners. Our aim is that the Raman probe will be "product one" for a company that we will spin-out from Heriot-Watt University (HWU) shortly after the end of the project.

拉曼探针是纤维耦合的设备，使用光纤将激发激光发光传输到样品，捕获所得的拉曼信号，并将该信号传输回光谱仪进行分析。因此，它们相对于拉曼光谱仪提供了样品定位方面的多功能性。传统的拉曼探针在CM的尺寸中测量了尺寸，但是在医疗保健，制造和计量学等领域中有应用，需要MM尺度甚至亚MM拉曼探针。微型纤维耦合的拉曼探针的制造并不是很琐碎的，因为它们通常由多个微型组件组成，用于聚焦，准确和过滤泵和拉曼信号，尽管已经证明了MM尺度探针，但对于广泛的商业应用来说，它们已经证明太昂贵了。最近，我们证明了如何使用称为超快激光辅助蚀刻（ULAE）的新兴制造技术可以制造微型拉曼探针（ULAE），该技术依赖于超短激光脉冲的非线性吸收来直接在介电材料中直接编写结构修饰，例如融合硅胶玻璃。如果正确控制，与原始材料相比，激光修饰的材料可以表现出KOH化学蚀刻速率约1000倍，从而使精美的MM级融合二氧化硅微光光学成分具有微米尺度精度。除了促进自由形式微观访问的制造外，很难用常规方法实现，但ULAE的关键优势是，微观镜可以与纤维和其他部位的被动比对结构单层整合。这方面对于体积制造，绕过主动对齐的时间和成本可能尤其有利。我们最近证明了使用ULAE制造原型的原型亚MM纤维耦合的拉曼探测器，该探针表现出商业产品所需的许多性能方面。但是，仍然存在一些技术准备水平（TRL）和市场准备水平（MRL）方面，这些方面需要开发将当前的拉曼调查带到近市场就绪状态。该项目将通过（i）证明将空间选择性的多层涂层整合到拉曼探头上，（ii）证明拉曼探测器的光学表面的二氧化碳激光抛光，（iii）证明拉曼探针可以按大小和（iv）量化Raman Proce norkotion Injecters nive Insport and In Is In Is In Iss Project。我们的目的是，拉曼调查将是一家公司的“产品一号”，我们将在该项目结束后不久将从赫奥特瓦特大学（HWU）衍生。