SBIR PHASE II: High-Definition Raman Imaging Microscope

这个小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目将建立在第一阶段展示的成功的成像拉曼仪器的基础上，并生产出充分利用这项新技术潜力的第二代仪器和软件。在第一阶段，使用窄带液晶可调谐滤光片(LCTF)和集成到拉曼显微镜中的CCD相机对化学物种进行成像。获得了衍射受限的空间图像，在图像中的每个像素具有完整的(且空间独立的)拉曼光谱，从而产生了具有两个空间轴和一个光谱轴的图像立方体。新的LCTF方法首次使高清晰度拉曼成像成为可能，并将拉曼光谱分析固有的能力和特异性引入到化学物种的成像中。在第二阶段，将进行关键改进：在第一阶段确定的高效率设计的基础上，透射率将增加一倍(或更多)，长波长限制将从目前的700 nm扩展到1050 nm。这种LCTF似乎在某些应用中提供了近乎革命性的好处，包括半导体分析、生物医学成像和制药研究。将在第二阶段对这些领域的性能进行实验评估。最后，将开发数据分析方法，从所涉及的大型空间分辨数据集中提取化学物种信息。未来5年，LCTF拉曼成像系统的商业销售额估计将达到2100万美元，用于研究、半导体、钻石、制药和发电行业。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will build on the successful imaging Raman instrument demonstrated in Phase I, and produce second-generation instruments and software which fully exploit the potential of this new technique. In Phase I, chemical species were imaged using a narrowband liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) and CCD camera integrated into a Raman microscope. Diffraction-limited spatial images were obtained with complete (and spatially independent) Raman spectra at each pixel in the image, yielding an image cube with two spatial axes and one spectral axis. The novel LCTF approach renders high-definition Raman imaging feasible for the first time, and brings the power and specificity inherent in Raman spectral analysis to the imaging of chemical species. In Phase II, key improvements will be made: transmission will be doubled (or more) based on a high-efficiency design identified in Phase I, and the longwavelength limit will be extended from the present 700 nm to 1050 nm. Such an LCTF appears to offer near-revolutionary benefits in certain applications including semiconductor analysis, biomedical imaging, and pharmaceutical research. Performance in these areas will assessed experimentally in Phase II. Finally, data analysis methods will be developed to extract chemical species information from the large, spatially resolved datasets involved. Commercial sales of LCTF Raman imaging systems are estimated at $21M over the next 5 years, for research, semiconductor, diamond, pharmaceutical, and power generation industries.