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

这项小型企业技术转移(STTR)第一阶段研究项目致力于新型超紧凑型、低成本和坚固耐用的低分辨率(约1 nm)拉曼分析系统的可行性研究。该系统基于无狭缝体全息光谱仪，与其他基于传统光谱仪的系统相比具有更好的整体性能。减小拉曼系统的尺寸和成本是不同生物应用的迫切需要。最近提出的基于体全息元件的无狭缝光谱仪具有将多个光学元件的功能集成到单个体全息图中的优点。提出的研究是基于这些无狭缝光谱仪开发拉曼系统的可行性研究。将考虑进行新的创新性修改，以大大减少系统的规模和成本。建议的拉曼分析仪将在生物化学、医药、制药、工业质量保证、国土安全、矿物学和环境目的等领域有广泛的应用。该仪器的超紧凑性和低成本特性使其成为上述几个领域高电流需求的手持式传感设备的良好选择。使用体全息图(通常记录在光致聚合物等低成本材料中)来取代多个笨重的光学元件(例如光谱仪的狭缝、准直透镜和光栅，以及拉曼分析仪中激发和准直子系统的透镜和薄膜滤光片)是一项重要的使能技术，它可以影响除拟议功能之外的几种应用(例如成像和传感)。

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.