I-Corps - A New Technological Approach to Infrared Detection

I-Corps - 红外探测新技术方法

• 批准号: 1832615
• 负责人: John Blaho
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: CUNY City University of New York
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-04-01 至 2019-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1832615&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; New; Technological; Approach; Infrared

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project focuses on the development of a lower-cost, improved performance infrared radiation detection technology. Numerous technologies presently exist for detecting Infrared radiation. Those which are cost effective for commercial applications tend to lack adequate performance specifications, while those with ideal performance are too expensive. This technology has broad application potential. The proposed I-Corps program explores implementation and commercialization opportunities within the project's initial application focus of Nondispersive Infrared (NDIR) gas sensing of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds (VOC), such as methane and ethylene gas. These sensors have significant markets related to smart ventilation systems for cars, homes, and businesses, as well as leak monitoring in industrial processes and oil and gas production. Further enabling the mass deployment of these sensors will have significant impact on energy conservation, environmental protection, and health and safety. Additionally, longer term development of the technology may prove to be disruptive in thermal imaging applications. Presently, thermal imaging applications are broad but the hardware is often too cumbersome and expensive to be practical for commercial use.This I-Corps project is based on the premise that the intersection of different scientific disciplines leads to disruptive innovation. The project's technology is a fundamentally different approach to infrared radiation detection than those developed in the past 50+ years. This project pursues an optical solution to a semiconductor material processing problem which has hampered the realization of adequate production yield, manufacturing scalability, and device performance, resulting in too high a cost and limited suitability for many commercial applications. Previous progress on this project has focused on the theoretical development of the optical design and experimental verification of these nanofabricated structures. Initial results have been encouraging, and work continues to enhance responsivity, as well as other necessary device specifications. This I-Corps process will be used to refine our understanding of customer problems/needs and the potential for our technology to solve them. This will further inform our technology development path and specification focus, enabling the release of a useful product to market sooner.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.

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力集中在开发一种成本更低、性能更好的红外辐射探测技术。目前存在许多用于检测红外辐射的技术。对于商业应用而言，性价比高的应用往往缺乏足够的性能规格，而性能理想的应用则过于昂贵。该技术具有广阔的应用潜力。拟议的i-Corps计划探索在该项目最初的应用重点范围内实现和商业化机会，即二氧化碳和挥发性有机化合物(VOC)的非分散红外(NDIR)气体传感，如甲烷和乙烯气体。这些传感器在汽车、家庭和企业的智能通风系统以及工业过程和石油和天然气生产中的泄漏监测方面具有重要的市场。进一步实现这些传感器的大规模部署将对节能、环保和健康安全产生重大影响。此外，该技术的长期发展可能会对热成像应用产生颠覆性影响。目前，热成像应用广泛，但硬件往往过于笨重和昂贵，无法用于商业用途。i-Corps项目的前提是不同科学学科的交叉导致颠覆性创新。与过去50多年来开发的技术相比，该项目的技术是一种根本不同的红外辐射探测方法。该项目寻求半导体材料加工问题的光学解决方案，该问题阻碍了足够的生产成品率、制造可扩展性和器件性能的实现，导致成本太高，并且对许多商业应用的适用性有限。该项目以前的进展主要集中在光学设计的理论发展和这些纳米结构的实验验证上。初步结果令人鼓舞，工作继续加强响应性，以及其他必要的设备规格。这一i-Corps流程将用于完善我们对客户问题/需求的理解，以及我们的技术解决这些问题的潜力。这将进一步为我们的技术开发路径和规范重点提供信息，使我们能够尽快向市场发布有用的产品。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。