NSF Award
2427228
There is a large demand for mid-infrared gas sensing technology in a broad range of biological, chemical, environmental, and industrial applications. Methane sensing and leakage control is an exemplary grand challenge in fighting global warming and climate change. Home health monitoring is another opportunity, for example monitoring ammonia in the breath of patients at risk of kidney failure. However, their large-scale adoption depends critically on the sensor’s portability, high resolution, low power consumption, and versatility. To date, there is no known solution that can deliver these performance metrics simultaneously. This project aims to develop a solution based on chip-scale quantum spectroscopy to solving the dilemma in mid-IR gas sensing, which exploits non-classical correlation in signal-idler photon pairs to enjoy high sensitivity and selectivity offered by the mid-IR spectrum while utilizing key resources in the near-infrared/visible bands for photon generation and detection. Specifically, the idler photon, which is sent to the sample for spectroscopy probing, is designed to be in the mid-infrared range while the signal photon, which does not interact with the sample under interrogation, resides in the visible. Because of the strong quantum correlation in such photon pairs, the amplitude and phase information of the idler photon gained from passing through the sample can be extracted by detecting the corresponding signal photon in the visible. As such, we can leverage the existing cost-effective infrastructure on key resources such as near-infrared laser diodes and silicon detectors, while relying upon low-power quantum processes in an integrated photonics platform to deliver superior performance in the mid-infrared sensing. We believe our research will significantly advance mid-infrared quantum spectroscopy, resulting in one of the most portable and versatile solutions available. Further, our CMOS-compatible manufacturing process holds the potential to reduce the cost by orders of magnitude, which is critical to the large-scale implementation of such gas sensors. <br/> The proposed work is centered on the development of a transformative technology platform that most effectively enables chip-scale quantum spectroscopy for mid-infrared gas sensing. A key innovation described herein – chip-scale quantum spectroscopy – enables the utilization of well-developed resources including lasers and photodetectors in the visible and near-infrared to attain unprecedented performance in mid-infrared gas sensing. Specifically, we will develop and integrate the following methods and technologies on the same chip: (a) Optimization of a novel silicon-carbide-on-aluminum-nitride integrated photonics platform for low-loss performance from the visible to the mid-infrared spectra; (b) silicon carbide nonlinear optics as an efficient source of quantum correlated mid-infrared and visible photons with large wavelength tunability and low optical power consumption; (c) Implementation of the wavelength multiplexing scheme to probe multiple fingerprints of one single gas or multiple gases; (d) compact gas sensors based on undercut silicon carbide waveguides that deliver high sensitivity and a large dynamic range; and (e) various filters and couplers that are an integral part of the sensing scheme, including pump notch filter, signal add-drop filter, dichroic coupler, and 3-dB (50:50) coupler, etc. Over time, platforms like this might be adapted to other reagent delivery modalities, like microfluidic analysis of chemicals in the liquid phase. This would open up a host of applications in blood chemistry monitoring and inexpensive in-home lab testing. Additional impacts are likely to accrue from the development of the component technologies as they are applied to other systems, including imaging technology, telecommunications, and lab on a chip application.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
