Whispering gallery mode microcavities for photonic sensing applications

用于光子传感应用的回音壁模式微腔

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-05808
• 负责人: Meldrum, Alkiviathes
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=613762
• 关键词: Whispering; gallery; mode; microcavities; photonic

Light interacts with everything it touches. Whenever light passes through a substance or reflects from a surface, its properties are affected in ways that can give important information about the environment. Photonic sensors use light to “sense” the surroundings on a length scale that is truly tiny. Being small is important; it can reduce cost, increase portability for operation “in the field”, yield fast results, and minimize the need for large and expensive laboratories. Photonic sensors can be used in a considerable range of applications and are being developed by research groups and companies worldwide. Applications range from hand-held toxic gas sensors to the detection of disease in at-risk populations. Making a photonic sensor for a particular application can be difficult, however. Many competing effects can “overlap”, making it hard to detect the presence of the specific substance of interest. Many analytes are chemically complex (e.g., blood), and it is hard to be selective for only one specific target. Also, one must typically detect very weak signals. We developed a sensor based on light emitted inside specially prepared microcapillaries. The channel can be as small as 10 micrometers wide; when a fluid is pumped in, the device emission wavelength is controlled by the chemical composition of the analyte. We aim to push this technology to ultra-low detection limits, such that changes of less than one part in a million can be reliably and quickly measured. The project further aims toward the application of specialized methods to detect the presence of single target molecules that are made to bind onto the device, achieving extraordinary chemical sensitivity and selectivity. We will search for ways to make biocompatible lasers in which the optical “gain medium” is the target analyte itself. Since laser signals are bright, this method can turn small changes into large signals, ideal for sensing applications. This work aims to overcome the key issues of selectivity and signal strength, and could help open a whole range of applications for photonic sensor technologies. Specific targets include measurement of vitamin D3 and explosives detection.

光与触摸的一切相互作用。每当光线通过物质或从表面反射时，其特性就会以可以提供有关环境的重要信息的方式影响。光子传感器使用光来“感知”周围环境的长度比例，这确实是微小的。小事很重要；它可以降低成本，增加“现场”操作的可移植性，产生快速的结果，并最大程度地减少对大型昂贵的实验室的需求。光子传感器可以在一系列应用范围内使用，并且正在全球研究小组和公司开发。从手持有毒气体传感器到处于危险人群中疾病的检测范围。但是，为特定应用制作光子传感器可能很困难。许多竞争效应都会“重叠”，因此很难检测到感兴趣的特定物质的存在。许多分析物在化学上是复杂的（例如，血液），很难仅针对一个特定靶标有选择性。另外，通常必须检测到非常弱的信号。 我们开发了一个基于在特殊准备的微毛细血管内发出的光的传感器。该通道可以小至10微米。当泵入流体时，设备发射波长由分析物的化学组成控制。我们旨在将这项技术推向超低检测限制，以便可以可靠且迅速测量一百万美元中少于一部分的变化。该项目进一步旨在应用专门的方法来检测以结合设备结合的单个靶分子的存在，从而达到了非凡的化学敏感性和选择性。我们将搜索制造生物相容性激光器的方法，其中光学“增益介质”是目标分析物本身。由于激光信号明亮，因此此方法可以将小变化变成大型信号，非常适合敏感性应用。这项工作旨在克服选择性和信号强度的关键问题，并可以帮助打开光子传感器技术的全范围应用。具体靶标包括维生素D3和爆炸物检测的测量。