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

这一创新-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转变为工业串联过程。自纳米科学和纳米技术诞生以来，它们已经给各种市场带来了革命性的变化。尽管如此，纳米材料的大规模制造一直落后，部分原因是无法有效地鉴定和控制纳米级的生产方法。拟议的项目将开发一种用户友好的、实用的、可能是便携式的化学成像系统。这项技术将通过改进对未来生产方法的质量控制，并实现从数据存储和光学通信到癌症检测的新应用，从而为纳米技术带来革命性的变化。探针显微镜市场约占53亿美元显微镜市场的4%，受到测量复杂性和缺乏化学敏感性的限制。这项拟议的技术将消除这些限制，为显微镜市场空间的增长创造机会。拟议的项目是通过将发明的等离子体光纤探针与商业探针显微镜相结合，制作具有变革性的纳米级化学成像显微镜的原型。纳米级化学成像在材料科学、生物传感、光电子学和催化等一系列应用中显示出潜在的应用前景。然而，由于复杂的操作挑战，包括光学对准时间、尖端可靠性、低信噪比(SNR)和高技能的技术人员要求，该技术的商业应用一直受到限制。这个PFI-TT项目将承担光纤尖端增强型拉曼光谱仪(F-TERS)的原型活动，F-TERS是一种基于光纤探测器的纳米级化学成像显微镜，旨在克服这些挑战，同时仍然提供样品表面的化学成分和纳米级形貌成像。此外，F-TERS还提供了显著提高SNR的潜力，从而支持更多的应用。这将通过1)克服使用原子力显微镜(AFM)演示F-ters功能所确定的障碍，以及2)在具有独立操作员的真实环境中量化F-ters的性能。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。

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.