Photonic Nose: Toward System-On-Chip Optical Gas and Odor Sensing

气体和气味传感在能源工业、医疗保健、食品安全、安保、国防和环境保护中发挥着关键作用，但由于对灵敏度和选择性的严格要求，它仍然是一个巨大的挑战。那么为什么不向我们经过数百万年进化而变得完美的鼻子学习呢？哺乳动物的嗅觉系统因其识别大量空气中分子的能力而得到广泛认可，这比大多数人工传感器要好得多。本项目的目标是通过模拟哺乳动物嗅觉系统，开发一种仿生光子鼻子（P-nose）系统，该系统将实现具有超高灵敏度和特异性的超紧凑光学气体和气味传感技术。这项研究将指出一种独特的方式来推进生物启发系统的前沿研究，并超越现有的台式光学气体传感技术，进入广泛的工程应用系统级芯片。通过加强纳米光子技术的课程，这项研究和教育的协同作用将使俄勒冈州立大学的研究生和本科生受益，通过利用俄勒冈州立大学美国光学学会学生分会的夏季研究项目，扩大代表性不足的少数民族的参与，并使用多学科方法来教育和培养未来的高科技企业家。本项目旨在通过模拟哺乳动物嗅觉系统，研究仿生光子鼻子系统，从而实现具有超高灵敏度和特异性的片上系统光学气体和气味传感技术。哺乳动物的嗅觉系统因其识别大量空气中分子的能力而得到广泛认可，这比大多数人工传感器要好得多。哺乳动物嗅觉系统的超高灵敏度和特异性来自两个关键机制：1)鼻腔内表面积大（70cm2）的粘膜捕捉微量气体和气味分子；2)大约400种不同的嗅觉受体神经元的组合反应，以感知一万多种气味。所提出的仿生p鼻系统将整合pi在纳米材料和光子器件方面的最新研究突破：1)纳米多孔金属有机框架材料作为模拟鼻腔内粘膜的高效选择性气体和气味吸收剂；2)类似嗅觉受体神经元的超高探测灵敏度的窄带等离子体滤波阵列，探测各种气体和气味分子的指纹红外吸收光谱。在该项目结束时，将展示一种完整的系统级芯片光学气体和气味传感技术，该技术可以在近红外波长范围内同时检测多种气体，包括CO2， CH4和挥发性有机化合物。智能意义：超紧凑型气体和气味传感器在许多工程应用中发挥着关键作用。电子鼻是目前最先进的技术，它依赖于由金属氧化物和导电聚合物制成的阵列电子气体传感器，缺乏灵敏度和特异性。与现有的电子鼻技术相比，所提出的仿生光子鼻探测指纹红外光谱，有望在检测灵敏度、特异性、传感时间、功耗以及在爆炸性气体环境、辐射或高电场/磁场等极端条件下的工作能力方面带来革命性的影响。这种受生物启发的光子鼻子概念最终可以通过将芯片级纳米光子器件与新兴的纳米多孔材料集成来实现，并将为具有完整功能（包括气体捕获，传感，光谱和模式识别）的片上系统光学气体传感开辟新的道路。

Gas and odor sensing plays pivotal roles in energy industry, healthcare, food safety, security, defense, and environmental protection, but it still remains a grand challenge given the stringent requirement of sensitivity and selectivity. So why not learning from our noses that have been perfected by millions of years of evolution. The mammalian olfactory system is well recognized for its ability to identify a large number of airborne molecules, far better than most artificial sensors. The objective of this project is to develop a bio-inspired photonic nose (P-nose) system by mimicking the mammalian olfactory system, which will enable ultra-compact optical gas and odor sensing technology with ultra-high sensitivity and specificity. This research will point out a unique way to advance the frontline research of bio-inspired systems and transcend existing bench-top optical gas sensing technology into system-on-chip level for a broad spectrum of engineering applications. The synergy of this research and education will benefit graduate and undergraduate students at the Oregon State University by enhancing the curricula of nanophotonic technology, broaden the participation of under-represented minorities through leveraging the summer research programs of the Student Chapter of the Optical Society of America at OSU, and use a multidisciplinary approach to educate and develop future high-tech entrepreneurs in technology-based ventures. The objective of this project is to investigate a bio-inspired photonic nose system by mimicking the mammalian olfactory system, which will enable system-on-chip optical gas and odor sensing technology with ultra-high sensitivity and specificity. The mammalian olfactory system is well recognized for its ability to identify a large number of airborne molecules, far better than most artificial sensors. The ultra-high sensitivity and specificity of the mammalian olfactory system come from two critical mechanisms: 1) the mucous membrane inside the nasal cavity with large surface areas (70cm2) to capture trace level of gas and odorant molecules; and 2) a combinatorial response of about four hundred different olfactory receptor neurons to sense more than ten thousand types of odorant. The proposed biomimetic P-nose system will integrate the PIs' recent research breakthroughs in both nanomaterials and photonic devices: 1) nanoporous metal-organic framework materials as highly efficient and selective gas and odorant absorbents mimicking the mucous membrane inside the nasal cavity; and 2) narrow-band plasmonic filter array with ultra-high detection sensitivity that is analogue to olfactory receptor neurons to probe the finger-print infrared absorption spectra of various gas and odorant molecules. A fully system-on-chip optical gas and odor sensing technology will be demonstrated at the end of this project to simultaneously detect multiplex gases including CO2, CH4, and volatile organic compounds at the near-infrared wavelength range.Intellectual Significance: Ultra-compact gas and odor sensors play pivotal roles in many engineering applications. State-of-the-art technology is dominant by electronic nose that relies on arrayed electronic gas sensors made of metal-oxides and conductive polymers, which lack sensitivity and specificity. Compared with exiting E-nose techniques, the proposed biomimetic photonic nose probes the finger-print IR spectra and is expected to bring transformative impact in detection sensitivity, specificity, sensing time, power consumption, as well as the capability to work under extreme conditions such as in explosive gas atmosphere, radiation, or high electric/magnetic fields. Such bio-inspired concept of photonic nose can be ultimately implemented by integrating chip-scale nanophotonic devices with emerging nano-porous materials, and will open a new path toward system-on-chip optical gas sensing with full functionalities including gas capture, sensing, spectroscopy, and pattern recognition.