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

许多具有威胁性的气溶胶粒子在中红外（IR）区域具有独特的光谱指纹。利用这种显著特性的中红外传感器能够识别、分类和定位广泛类别的威胁、危险和致命粒子，但是用于产生和传输中红外光的方法昂贵且效率低下。硫属化物玻璃纤维器件的新兴技术有望改变中红外传感器技术，为数百万美国人带来潜在利益，他们的生命受到工作场所危险气溶胶颗粒或恐怖分子可能的化学袭击的威胁。在产生和传输中红外光方面的进展为廉价高效的中红外传感器提供了可能性，这些传感器可以持续监测威胁性的气溶胶颗粒，并在紧急情况即将发生时向风险管理和国土安全人员发送警报。这个学术与工业联络（GOALI）项目的资助机会是设计硫属化物光纤器件，使传感器技术的实际实现具有各种重要应用，如生物传感，环境监测，国土安全和医疗诊断。该项目将扩大学术研究人员和光子产业之间的合作。它将扩大由首席研究员对代表性不足的学生的指导。它还将帮助首席研究员将研究融入大学课程，并改善对当地K-12学校学生的外联工作，以激发他们对激光/光子学和STEM领域的兴趣。该项目将有助于培养贝勒研究与创新合作（BRIC）的研究环境，该合作旨在促进大学教师，行业合作伙伴和地区组织之间的跨学科研究。该项目的成果将通过出版物传播。与行业合作伙伴合作开展的拟议研究将导致重要的中红外领域传感组件的进一步商业化发展。技术描述：我们的目标是与行业合作伙伴合作，将建模和原型设计集成起来，以确定指导和支持可靠，经济高效和节能的中红外光谱发展的关键因素。主要的挑战是在效率、成本、功耗、带宽、抗弯曲性、重量和便携性方面找到产生和传输中红外光源的最佳光纤技术。为了应对这一挑战，最近的研究已经确定需要增加对使用硫族化物玻璃纤维产生中红外激光源和使用硫族化物负曲率纤维递送高功率中红外激光源的理解。该研究团队在光学和光子学、光子晶体光纤、硫属化物玻璃光纤和计算机建模方面的独特专业知识组合将使研究人员能够为各种应用设计高效的中红外硫属化物玻璃光纤器件。该计划将导致创建依赖于中红外区域高功率激光器的新应用。具有宽传输窗口的新型负曲率光纤也将改变空芯光纤，以用于具有各种潜在应用的设备中。理论模型和实验数据之间的比较将确定设备中的限制因素，并促进实验性能的进一步改善。该项目的预期智力意义将是将理论转化为实践，用于中红外应用中的器件，包括中红外光源的产生和提供。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.