GOALI: Design of chalcogenide glass fiber devices for mid-IR applications

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Many threatening aerosol particles have unique spectral fingerprints in the mid-infrared (IR) region. Mid-IR sensors using this remarkable property are capable of identification, classification, and localization of a wide class of threatening, hazardous, and lethal particles, but methods for generating and transmitting mid-IR light are expensive and inefficient. The emerging technology of chalcogenide glass fiber devices promises to transform mid-IR sensor technologies, with potential benefit for millions of Americans whose lives are threatened by hazardous aerosol particles in their workplaces or from possible chemical attacks by terrorists. Advances in generating and transmitting mid-IR light have opened the possibility for inexpensive and efficient mid-IR sensors that continuously monitor threatening aerosol particles and transmit alerts to risk management and homeland security personnel in case of impending emergencies. This Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) project is to design chalcogenide fiber devices that will enable practical realization of sensor technologies with a variety of important applications such as biosensing, environmental monitoring, homeland security, and medical diagnostics. This project will broaden collaborations between academic researchers and the photonics industry. It will expand mentorship of underrepresented students by the principal investigator. It will also help the principal investigator to integrate research into university coursework and improve outreach efforts to local K-12 school students to spark interest in lasers/photonics and STEM fields. This project will help cultivate the research environment at the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC), which is designed to foster interdisciplinary research between university faculty, industry partners, and area organizations. The outcome of this project will be disseminated through publications. The proposed research, undertaken in collaboration with industry partners, will lead to further commercial development of sensing components in the important mid-IR field.Technical description: Our goal is to integrate modeling and prototyping in collaboration with industrial partners to determine the key factors that guide and support the development of reliable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient mid-IR spectroscopy. The primary challenge is to find the best fiber technology to generate and transmit mid-IR light sources in terms of efficiency, cost, power consumption, bandwidth, bend resistance, weight, and portability. To address this challenge, recent studies have identified the need for increased understanding of generation of mid-IR laser sources using chalcogenide glass fiber and delivery of high power mid-IR laser sources using chalcogenide negative curvature fibers. The research team's unique combination of expertise in optics and photonics, photonic crystal fibers, chalcogenide glass fibers, and computer modeling will permit the researchers to design efficient mid-IR chalcogenide glass fiber devices for a variety of applications. This program will lead to the creation of new applications that rely on high power lasers in the mid-IR region. The new negative curvature fibers with a broad transmission window will also transform the hollow core fibers to be used in devices with various potential applications. The comparison between theoretical models and experimental data will identify limiting factors in the devices and facilitate further improvements in experimental performance. The expected intellectual significance of the proposed project will be to turn the theory to practice for the devices in mid-IR applications including both generation and delivery of mid-IR light sources.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.