Photon Absorption Spectroscopy CAmera for Leaks (PASCAL)

英国要实现净零碳经济，需要迅速扩大对温室气体(GHG)排放的监管和限制。天然气正迅速成为我们最主要的化石燃料，工业泄漏现在是温室气体排放的主要来源。行业巨头已承诺扩大排放监测，但目前可用的技术昂贵、劳动密集型和不准确。量子气体成像(QGI)是由QLm发明的一项新兴技术，它使用非低温短波红外(SWIR)单光子雪崩探测器(SPAD)来展示创新的高灵敏度远程单光子激光雷达气体成像器，这些成像器可以定位和测量甲烷、二氧化碳等不可见气体。当前一代的QGI相机使用机械扫描来分析单个传感器的区域。这限制了数据采集速率，从而阻止了快速移动部署，以保持必要的灵敏度和空间分辨率。商用现成(COTS)SPAD阵列可以允许非机械扫描，但当前的读出电子设备在吞吐量方面受到限制，无法支持这种开发。这样的SWIR SPAD阵列读数需要高速数据采集。与现场可编程门阵列(现场可编程门阵列)技术的灵活性相结合，这将成为所有其他基于单光子量子光学研究的光子第二代量子技术的关键使能技术，包括自由空间量子通信、光子量子处理器和激光雷达。在这个项目中，QLM技术将开发一种非机械扫描QGI相机，它利用SPAD阵列及其高通量能力来实现最先进的采集速率、灵敏度和大探测器动态范围。阿斯顿大学将开发先进的信号处理算法，以实现在现场可编程门阵列上实现高速实时数字转换器(TDC)和时间相关单光子计数(TCSPC)，并利用多光子信息来形成关联。RedWave将搭建电子平台，将先进的高速时间标签能力整合到新的独立产品中，由于基于FPGA的系统的灵活性，这些产品可以应用于生命科学和自由空间通信中的第二代量子技术的其他领域。

For the UK to reach a net-zero carbon economy, the regulation and limitation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions needs to rapidly expand. Natural gas is fast becoming our most dominant fossil fuel and industrial leaks are now a leading source of GHG emissions. Industry majors have committed to expanding emissions monitoring, but the technologies currently available are expensive, labour intensive, and inaccurate. Quantum Gas Imaging (QGI), invented by QLM, is an emerging technology that uses non-cryogenic Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) Single-Photon Avalanche Detectors (SPADs) to demonstrate innovative and highly sensitive long-range, single-photon lidar gas imagers that locate and measure invisible gases including methane, CO2 and more.The current generation of the QGI camera uses mechanical scanning to analyse an area with a single sensor. This limits the data acquisition rate, thus prohibiting fast mobile deployment, in the interest of maintaining the sensitivity and spatial resolution necessary. Commerical-off-the-shelf (COTS) SPAD arrays can allow for non-mechanical scanning, but current readout electronics are limited in throughput to allow for such developments. SWIR SPAD array readouts, such as these, require high-speed data acquisition. When combined with the flexibility of Field-Programmable Gate-Array (FPGA) technology, this is going to be a key enabling technology for all other photonic 2nd generation quantum technologies based on single-photon quantum optics research, including free-space quantum telecommunications, photonic quantum processors, and lidar.In this project, QLM Technology will develop a non-mechanical scanning QGI camera that exploits SPAD arrays and their high throughput capabilities to achieve state-of-the-art acquisition rates, sensitivity, and large detector dynamic range. Aston University will develop the advanced signal processing algorithm required to achieve high speed real-time Time to Digital Converter (TDC) and Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) on FPGAs and utilises multi-photon information for the formation of the correlations. RedWave will build the electronics platform to incorporate the advanced high speed time tagging capability into new standalone products, which can be applied in other fields for the 2nd generation quantum technology used in life science and free-space communications, thanks to the flexibility of the FPGA based system.