PFI-TT: Scale up of new materials that generate terahertz-frequency light for advanced scanning applications

这项创新技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是向市场引入产生高强度太赫兹频率光的新材料。这些材料将满足许多当前和新兴的扫描和传感应用日益增长的需求，这些应用受到太赫兹频率光源强度的限制。将更亮的太赫兹光源引入当前和开发中的扫描仪，将在广泛的成像和传感应用中提供更高的分辨率和灵敏度，包括机场扫描仪、医疗成像设备和制造中的质量控制扫描仪。这些结果将扩大太赫兹频率扫描仪的影响，太赫兹频率扫描仪是安全的（非电离辐射），可以在许多扫描、医学成像和传感应用中提供独特的信息。该项目还将在材料开发和创业领域培养一批多样化的本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员。拟议的项目包括扩大新发现的能够产生高强度太赫兹频率光的有机材料的规模。使用太赫兹频率光的扫描和成像仪器比许多普通的基于x射线的扫描仪更安全，但往往受到缺乏明亮的太赫兹光源的限制。该提案中为商业化而生产的有机新材料提供的太赫兹光输出几乎是当前商业光源的两倍。更大的太赫兹产生晶体的规模和增长将满足开发新的太赫兹技术的公司和研究人员日益增长的需求，他们需要更亮的太赫兹源。由于在环境条件下分解，有机材料的寿命通常有限。在这个项目中，我们的原型层状晶体结构的商业化将提高太赫兹输出，并最大限度地减少太赫兹光产生过程中的晶体损伤。这些更强大的太赫兹光源将使扫描仪和成像仪能够使用有机太赫兹光源，而以前由于有机晶体的寿命短而无法使用这种技术。结合起来，这些技术的商业化将促进太赫兹扫描仪领域的快速增长，实现更安全，更敏感的扫描和成像技术。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 impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to introduce new materials to the market that generate high intensity THz-frequency light. These materials will meet the growing needs of many current and emerging scanning and sensing applications that are limited by the strength of THz-frequency light sources. The introduction of brighter THz light sources into current and developing scanners will provide enhanced resolution and sensitivity in a broad range of imaging and sensing applications, including in airport scanners, medical imaging devices, and quality control scanners in manufacturing. These results will expand the impact of THz-frequency scanners, which are safe (non-ionizing radiation) and can provide unique information in many scanning, medical imaging, and sensing applications. The project will also train a diverse group of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers in the field of materials development and entrepreneurship.The proposed project involves the scale up of newly discovered organic materials capable of generating high intensity terahertz-frequency light. Scanning and imaging instruments that employ terahertz-frequency light are safer than many common X-ray based scanners yet are often limited by the lack of bright terahertz-light sources. The organic new materials being produced for commercialization in this proposal provide nearly double the THz light output from current commercial sources. The scale up and growth of larger terahertz-generating crystals will meet the growing demands of companies and researchers who are developing new terahertz-based technologies and who require brighter terahertz sources. Organic materials generally have limited lifetimes due to decomposition under ambient conditions. On this project, commercialization of our prototype layered crystal structures will both enhance THz output and minimize crystal damage during terahertz light generation. These more robust sources of terahertz light will enable the use of organic terahertz light sources in scanners and imagers that previously could not employ this technology due to the short lifetime of organic crystals. In combination, the commercialization of these technologies will facilitate rapid growth in the terahertz scanner sector, enabling safer and more sensitive scanning and imaging technologies.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.