Mid-Infrared Vibrational-Assisted Detectors (MIRVID)

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Detecting mid-infrared (MIR) light is vital for applications ranging from sensing of gases in the atmosphere to biomedical typing oftissues, since molecules absorb at characteristic vibration bonds in the MIR. However sensitive detection of MIR light is problematicbecause unlike for visible light, detectors are bulky, costly and need to be cooled. Sensitive pixelated detectors for imaging areextremely expensive, precluding their use in many applications.We have invented and patented a new way to more efficiently detect MIR light, by upconverting it into the visible where efficient Sidetectors are ubiquitous. While upconversion is known, it is low efficiency in all materials, which has required it to be enhanced usingshort pulse lasers that are also expensive, bulky, and costly. Our devices use extreme confinement of light far below the opticalwavelength into few-nm gaps between coinage metals (such as Au or Ag). By thus confining both MIR and visible light in the samenano-gap, the upconversion efficiency is enhanced more than a billion-fold, enabling compact cheap detectors using diode laser orLED illumination. This leads to MIR detectors that are compact, uncooled, and much lower cost for users.This project will develop single-pixel and array detector demonstrators, identify and tabulate the technical specifications, build links topartners across the EU and UK, develop an IP plan, examine the capability for scale-up fabrication, and scope the range of marketsthat can be accessed