PFI-TT: Nanoscale Chemical Imaging Spectroscopy using Novel Fiber Probes

PFI-TT：使用新型光纤探针的纳米级化学成像光谱

• 批准号: 1941100
• 负责人: Zhenrong Zhang
• 金额: $ 25万
• 依托单位: Baylor University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-03-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1941100&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; TT; Nanoscale; Chemical; Imaging

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to enable the nanoscale chemical imaging technology from strictly research labs to industrial in-line processes. Nanoscience and nanotechnology have revolutionized a variety of markets since their inception. Nonetheless, large-scale manufacturing of nanomaterials has lagged, partly because of the inability to efficiently qualify and control nanoscale production methods. The proposed project will develop a user-friendly, practical, and potentially portable chemical imaging system. This technology will revolutionize nanotechnology by improving quality control of future production methods and enabling new applications, ranging from data storage and optical communication to cancer detection. The probe microscope market accounts for approximately 4% of the $5.3 billion microscopy market and has been limited by measurement complexity and lack of chemical sensitivity. The proposed technology would remove these limitations, creating an opportunity for growth within the microscopy market space.The proposed project is to prototype the transformative nanoscale chemical imaging microscopy by integrating the invented plasmonic fiber probes with commercial probe microscopes. Nanoscale chemical imaging had demonstrated potential for use in an array of applications including material science, bio-sensing, optoelectronics, and catalysis. However, due to the complex operating challenges including optical alignment times, low tip reliability, low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), and highly skilled technician requirements, there has been limited commercial application. This PFI-TT project will undertake prototyping activities of a fiber tip-enhanced Raman spectroscope (F-TERS), an optical fiber probe-based nanoscale chemical imaging microscopy designed to overcome these challenges while still providing the chemical composition and nanoscale morphology imaging of a sample surface. In addition, F-TERS also provides the potential for significantly improved SNR, enabling additional applications. This will be accomplished by 1) overcoming the identified hurdles of demonstrating F-TERS functionality with atomic force microscope (AFM), and 2) quantifying F-TERS performance in real-world environments with independent operators.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.

这个创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是使纳米级化学成像技术从严格的研究实验室到工业在线工艺。纳米科学和纳米技术自诞生以来已经彻底改变了各种市场。尽管如此，纳米材料的大规模制造仍然滞后，部分原因是无法有效地鉴定和控制纳米级生产方法。拟议的项目将开发一个用户友好，实用，并可能便携式化学成像系统。这项技术将通过改善未来生产方法的质量控制和实现新的应用，从数据存储和光通信到癌症检测，彻底改变纳米技术。探针显微镜市场约占53亿美元显微镜市场的4%，并受到测量复杂性和缺乏化学敏感性的限制。拟议的技术将消除这些限制，创造一个机会，在显微镜市场空间的增长。拟议的项目是原型的变革纳米化学成像显微镜，通过集成发明的等离子体光纤探针与商业探针显微镜。纳米级化学成像已显示出在材料科学、生物传感、光电子学和催化等一系列应用中的潜力。然而，由于复杂的操作挑战，包括光学对准时间、低尖端可靠性、低信噪比（SNR）和高度熟练的技术人员要求，商业应用受到限制。该PFI-TT项目将进行光纤尖端增强拉曼光谱仪（F-TERS）的原型开发活动，这是一种基于光纤探针的纳米级化学成像显微镜，旨在克服这些挑战，同时仍然提供化学成分和纳米级形态成像样品表面。此外，F-TERS还提供了显着提高SNR的潜力，从而实现更多的应用。这将通过1）克服用原子力显微镜（AFM）演示F-TERS功能的障碍，以及2）在真实环境中用独立操作员量化F-TERS性能来实现。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。