STTR Phase I: Algorithmic Mid-Infrared Spectroscope Utilizing Narrow-Band, Epsilon-Near-Zero Thermal Emitters

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响将推动红外光谱新方法的开发，红外光谱是生命科学、材料开发和制药行业的重要工具。到2020年，化学品生产商将在分析仪器上花费约1.4亿美元。这种仪器的概念是基于人类的视觉，它可以从三种光敏锥细胞提取的信号中推断出大约1000万种颜色，这三种光敏锥细胞对测量颜色组合具有重叠的灵敏度。提出的解决方案使用相同的架构，用单个设备替换多个仪器。这个SBIR一期项目将推进算法光谱工具的翻译。利用最新可用的热发射器技术，可调谐红外（2-10微米波长）中心发射频率，该计划将证明光谱信息可以通过算法从一系列非色散吸收测量中恢复。该技术以人类视觉系统为模型，将具有重叠发射光谱的多个发射器与低成本、非色散红外探测器（如热电堆）配对。该方案将通过展示对CO2特征吸收波段的敏感性并通过算法重建CO2光谱，开发出频率范围为3800-2100 cm-1的算法光谱解决方案。这项工作的成功完成将为一种新的红外光谱技术建立基准，该技术不需要昂贵的色散元件或活动部件。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance the development of a new method to conduct infrared spectroscopy, an important tool in the life sciences, materials development and pharmaceutical industries. Chemical producers will spend an estimated $140 million on analytical instrumentation in 2020. The instrument concept is based on human vision, which can deduce roughly 10 million colors from the signals extracted from just three types of light-sensitive cones that have overlapping sensitivity to measure color combinations. The proposed solution uses the same architecture, replacing multiple instruments with a single device. This SBIR Phase I project will advance the translation of an algorithmic spectroscopy tool. Utilizing newly available thermal emitter technology with tunable center emission frequency across the infrared (2-10 microns wavelength), the program will demonstrate that spectroscopic information can be recovered algorithmically from a series of non-dispersive absorption measurements. The technology uses the human vision system as a model and pairs multiple emitters with overlapping emission spectra with low-cost, non-dispersive infrared detectors, such as thermopiles. The proposed solution will develop an algorithmic spectroscopy solution at a frequency range of 3800-2100 cm-1 by demonstrating sensitivity to the characteristic CO2 absorption bands and algorithmically reconstructing the CO2 spectrum. Successful completion of the proposed effort will establish the benchmarks for a new infrared spectroscopy technology that operates without costly dispersive elements or moving parts.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.