International Collaboration in Chemistry: Next Generation of Compact Infrared Laser based sensor for environmental monitoring (NexCILAS)

化学系和国际科学与工程办公室的化学测量和成像计划将支持莱斯大学的蒂特尔教授和他的同事开展这一国际合作研究计划。这项工作将与法国蒙彼利埃大学的奥罗尔·维切特教授合作进行。法国国家科学基金会(ANR)将支持Vicet教授和他的同事的研究。该联盟将致力于开发光学传感器系统，其基础是将工作在3-4微米波长区域的新型中红外激光器(量子井、量子级联和带间级联)集成到基于石英增强型光声光谱(QEPAS)的传感器平台上，该平台体积小且功能强大。这一集成光学传感平台有望显著提高甲烷和其他碳氢化合物温室气体检测在环境重要监测应用中的灵敏度。灵敏地检测大气微量气体的能力将影响对大气化学的理解，并使缓解温室气体造成的污染和全球变暖的战略得以实施。该项目促进的国际合作将为参与的学生提供宝贵的研究经验，并导致更具全球意识的科学工作队伍。

The Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry and the Office of International Science and Engineering will support Professor Tittel and his coworkers at Rice University in this International Collaborative research program. The work will be conducted in collaboration with Professor Aurore Vicet of the University of Montpellier, France. NSF's French counterpart, Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) will support the research of Professor Vicet and his coworkers. The consortium will work to develop optical sensor systems based on the integration of novel mid-infrared lasers, (quantum well, quantum cascade, and interband cascade) operating in the 3-4 micron wavelength region, into a sensor platform based on quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) which is miniature and robust. This integrated optical sensing platform promises significant improvements in sensitivity for detection of methane and other hydrocarbon greenhouse gases in environmentally important monitoring applications. The ability to sensitively detect atmospheric trace gases will impact understanding of atmospheric chemistry, and enable strategies for mitigation of pollution and global warming by greenhouse gas build up. The international collaboration facilitated by this project will provide the students involved with a valuable research experience and lead to a more globally aware scientific workforce.