Back to search

FRINATEK-Fri prosj.st. mat.,naturv.,tek

Mid-Infrared CRyptophane-enhanced On-chip Sensor

Alternative title: Mid-infrarød cryptophane-forsterket brikke-basert sensor

Awarded: NOK 8.4 mill.

Greenhouse gas emissions have been increasing since decades, becoming an issue alarming both the scientific community and broad public. MICO-Sense project addresses the topic by developing a new generation of sensor technology that can simplify the identification and quantification of emission sources. The generated knowledge should help to assess the emission budget and better constrain the current climate change scenarios. The MICRO-Sense sensor is based on interaction of infrared light with greenhouse gas molecules, which takes place on a miniature photonic chip. The developed sensors are therefore small and light, and, at the same time, reliable, selective, and up to 10 000 more sensitive than existing sensors within the same price and size category. Based on novel, specially designed thin-film waveguides, the sensors have demonstrated methane detection down to 300 ppb and carbon dioxide detection down to 30 ppb, which is the first time that on-chip sensors could detect these two greenhouse gases so much below their atmospheric concentrations. Moreover, discrimination of different carbon dioxide isotopologues with evaluation of isotope ratios with precision down to 0.3‰, that is comparable to bulky and costly high-end instruments, have been demonstrated. As such, the MICRO-Sense sensors have marked a new milestone in on-chip trace gas detection, opening possibilities for denser sensor networks or sensor deployment in poorly accessible areas such as the Arctic. The project has been led by Jana Jagerska at the Institute of Physics and Technology, UiT. The project budget of 13 Million NOK, of which 8 Million was from the RCN, has been used to finance part of the project leader's position, 2 PhD positions, nanophotonic fabrication, and equipment of a brand new mid-Infrared nanophotonic laboratory at UiT. More information about the project can be found on the website: http://site.uit.no/onchipsensing/projects/micro-sense/

The most important outcome of the project is a sensor chip demonstrated for detection of trace concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide. This sensor chip achieves detection limits down to 30 part-per-billion concentration levels, which is an enormous improvement (approximately four orders of magnitude!) compared to existing spectroscopic sensors in the same size category. This result will facilitate significant miniaturization of spectroscopic trace gas detectors, making them more affordable, more abundant, and possibly deployable in networks. An additional unique property of the developed sensors is an extremely small sample volume down to micrometers, which is a dramatic reduction compared to tens of millilitres to litres of comparable bulk instruments. The impact of the work is primarily in climate research, which will welcome denser sensor networks to better identify and quantify gas emissions and constrain existing climate models. The on-chip sensors may also be applied in new research areas such as organoid or microbiology research, where current laser spectroscopic instruments are not applicable due to too large sample volumes. Finally, applications in industrial monitoring and process control such as monitoring of gas leaks or combustion efficiency are foreseen. The project has also had a substantial impact on the development of nanophotonics and nanotechnology as fields of research and study at UiT. UiT has been integrated in national networks (research schools Nanonetwork, TNNN), plans construction of a cleanroom facility, and opening of a new study program on nanophotonics and nanotechnology. Existing collaborations were strengthened through research stays (University of Southampton, NTNU) and new collaborations were established (Stanford University, University of Malaga). Commercialization of the results either through an industrial partnership or creation of a startup company is envisaged.

Mid-infrared laser spectroscopy is a well-established technique for trace gas detection; it is inherently fast, non-invasive and undisputedly the most sensitive and selective. The key problem is that current mid-infrared spectrometers are almost exclusively realized using free-space optics, and therefore remain costly and bulky. MICRO-Sense project aims to bring the powerful mid-infrared sensing onto a photonic chip, targeting both ultimate sensitivity and minimal footprint. Yet, by law of nature, the sensitivity scales with the optical interaction length, which eventually translates into the instrument size. Maintaining high sensitivity upon miniaturization is the principal challenge of the project. This will be addressed by: (i) An innovative waveguide design optimized for maximum optical field interaction with the surrounding environment, (ii) Co-doping the waveguide cladding with cryptophanes, i.e. specially synthesized supra-molecules that can selectively trap and pre-concentrate methane. Atmospheric methane sensing has been chosen as a test-bed application for the project due to its relevance in the Arctic, where the monitoring of methane release from thawing permafrost and ocean seabed is of primary interest (CAGE). However, the unique combination of on-chip mid-infrared tuneable laser spectroscopy with an enrichment layer is an absolute novelty, making MICRO-Sense high impact far beyond methane gas detection. MICRO-Sense is a strongly inter-disciplinary project with focus across the fields of photonics, spectroscopy and chemistry, having a high degree of novelty, but also involving technological challenges and associated risks. Yet, the chance of success is maximized by the ideally matching scientific background of the PI and a unique team of scientists, word-leading experts in all relevant areas of the project.

Funding scheme:

FRINATEK-Fri prosj.st. mat.,naturv.,tek