Courtesy Photo | A WERS PIC for chemical threat agent detection, as well as the laser and spectrometer....... read more read more
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As the nature of the threat landscape evolves, warfighters require capabilities that can be handheld and are low in weight and power so they can quickly detect and identify chemical threats. State-of-the-art microelectronic fabrication tools can produce low-cost photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that contain not only the sensing trenches for Waveguide-Enhanced Raman spectroscopy (WERS), but also other on-chip optical components such as filters and couplers. Raman spectroscopy is used in chemistry to provide a structural fingerprint or signature to identify molecules.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Chemical and Biological Technologies Department in its role as the Joint Science and Technology Office (JSTO) for Chemical and Biological Defense, an integral component of the Chemical and Biological Defense Program, has invested in an effort with AIM (American Institute for Manufacturing) Photonics located at the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command–Chemical and Biological Center, the Army Research Laboratory, and the University of Rochester to develop this next generation of highly sensitive and selective chemical agent sensors based on photonics. These research scientists have been combining advancements in spectroscopy, semiconductor manufacturing, and polymer chemistry to create a new technology for handheld chemical threat detection.
WERS is a new form of sensing that uses sorbent polymers coated on evanescent nanophotonic waveguides to detect and identify low concentrations of toxic chemicals. While conventional Raman spectroscopy is effective in identifying liquids and solids, it fails to detect trace amounts of vapor due to weak optical interactions with small numbers of target molecules. WERS combines the long optical path lengths in photonic integrated circuits with sorbent polymers that selectively concentrate chemical threat vapors in the low part-per-billion range with fast sensor response.
AIM Photonics is a manufacturing innovation institute supported by significant DTRA JSTO investments to provide onshore manufacturing and assembly of PICs that are assembled with attached optical fibers at their test, assembly, and packaging facility. These PICs can then be coated with a sorbent polymer, which is designed to target a specific class of threat agent. The sorbent polymers are designed and synthesized at the University of Rochester. The use of 300-mm microelectronics fabrication and packaging ensures low-cost, high-yield production of these sensors in a U.S. foundry.
As a form of Raman spectroscopy, WERS can identify target analytes based on a specific spectral signature. Currently, scientists are testing prototype devices with chemical warfare agent simulants at varying concentrations to build new spectral libraries. And to enable simple plug-and-play operation with packaged WERS PICs, several commercial handheld spectrometer vendors are modifying their devices for WERS.
Future research and development efforts intend to decrease the size, weight, and power of these systems even further for a battery-powered handheld system that can detect and identify toxic chemical vapors at concentrations well below the permissible exposure limits to keep the Joint Force safe from chemical threats.
POC: Mr. Tyler Miller, tyler.c.miller23.civ@mail.mil
| Date Taken: | 10.28.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.28.2024 23:32 |
| Story ID: | 484103 |
| Location: | FT. BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 391 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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