STTR Phase I: An Ultra Compact and Low Cost Raman Analyzer Based on Slitless Volume Holographic Spectrometers

该小型企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段研究项目的重点是对一种新型超紧凑、低成本、耐用的低分辨率（约1 nm）拉曼分析仪系统进行可行性研究。所提出的系统是基于无狭缝体全息光谱仪，并具有更好的整体性能相比，其他系统的基础上，传统的光谱仪。降低拉曼系统的尺寸和成本对于不同的生物学应用是高度期望的。最近提出的基于体全息元件的无狭缝光谱仪具有将几个光学部件的功能集成到单个体全息图中的优点。本研究旨在探讨以这些无狭缝拉曼光谱仪为基础，发展一套拉曼系统的可行性。将考虑新的创新修改，以大大减少系统的大小和成本。所提出的拉曼分析仪将在生物化学、医学、制药、工业质量保证、国土安全、矿物学和环境目的领域中具有广泛的应用。所提出的仪器的超紧凑和低成本性质使它们成为在上述几个领域中具有高电流需求的手持式传感设备的良好选择。使用体积全息图（通常记录在低成本材料如光聚合物中）来取代多个笨重的光学器件（例如，光谱仪的狭缝、准直透镜和光栅，以及拉曼分析仪中的激发和准直子系统的透镜和薄膜滤光器）是一种重要的使能技术，其可以影响若干应用（例如，成像和感测）。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I research project is focused on the feasibility study of a new ultra-compact, low-cost, and robust low-resolution (around 1 nm) Raman analyzer system. The proposed system is based on slitless volume holographic spectrometers and has a better overall performance compared to the other systems based on conventional spectrometers. Reducing the size and the cost of the Raman systems are highly desired for different biological applications. Recently proposed slitless spectrometers that are based on volume holographic elements have the advantage of integrating the functionalities of several optical components into a single volume hologram. The proposed research is the feasibility study of developing a Raman system based on these slitless spectrometers. New innovative modifications will be considered to considerably reduce the size and the cost of the system. The proposed Raman analyzer will have a broad range of applications in the fields of biochemistry, medicine, pharmaceuticals, industrial quality assurance, homeland security, mineralogy, and environmental purposes. The ultra-compact and low-cost nature of the proposed instruments makes them a good choice of handheld sensing devices that are of high current demand in several fields mentioned above. The use of volume holograms (which are typically recorded in low-cost materials like photopolymers) to replace multiple bulky optics (e.g., slit, collimating lens, and grating of the spectrometer, and lens and thin-film filters of the excitation and collimation subsystems in a Raman analyzer) is an important enabling technology that can impact several applications (e.g., imaging and sensing) beyond the proposed functionalities.