I-Corps - A New Technological Approach to Infrared Detection

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力侧重于开发成本更低、性能更好的红外辐射探测技术。目前存在许多检测红外辐射的技术。那些在商业应用中具有成本效益的产品往往缺乏足够的性能规格，而那些具有理想性能的产品则过于昂贵。该技术具有广阔的应用潜力。拟议的I-Corps项目在项目最初的应用重点中探索了二氧化碳和挥发性有机化合物（VOC）（如甲烷和乙烯气体）的非色散红外（NDIR）气体传感的实施和商业化机会。这些传感器在汽车、家庭和企业的智能通风系统以及工业过程和石油和天然气生产中的泄漏监测方面具有重要的市场。进一步实现这些传感器的大规模部署，将对节能、环保、健康和安全产生重大影响。此外，该技术的长期发展可能会对热成像应用产生破坏性影响。目前，热成像应用广泛，但硬件往往过于笨重和昂贵，无法用于商业用途。这个I-Corps项目是基于这样一个前提，即不同科学学科的交叉会导致破坏性创新。该项目的技术与过去50多年来开发的红外辐射探测技术完全不同。该项目寻求一种光学解决方案来解决半导体材料加工问题，该问题阻碍了实现足够的产量，制造可扩展性和器件性能，导致成本过高，并且限制了许多商业应用的适用性。该项目的先前进展主要集中在这些纳米结构的光学设计和实验验证的理论发展上。初步结果令人鼓舞，工作继续提高响应能力，以及其他必要的设备规格。这个I-Corps流程将用于完善我们对客户问题/需求的理解，以及我们的技术解决这些问题的潜力。这将进一步告知我们的技术开发路径和规范重点，使有用的产品能够更快地推向市场。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 I-Corps project focuses on the development of a lower-cost, improved performance infrared radiation detection technology. Numerous technologies presently exist for detecting Infrared radiation. Those which are cost effective for commercial applications tend to lack adequate performance specifications, while those with ideal performance are too expensive. This technology has broad application potential. The proposed I-Corps program explores implementation and commercialization opportunities within the project's initial application focus of Nondispersive Infrared (NDIR) gas sensing of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds (VOC), such as methane and ethylene gas. These sensors have significant markets related to smart ventilation systems for cars, homes, and businesses, as well as leak monitoring in industrial processes and oil and gas production. Further enabling the mass deployment of these sensors will have significant impact on energy conservation, environmental protection, and health and safety. Additionally, longer term development of the technology may prove to be disruptive in thermal imaging applications. Presently, thermal imaging applications are broad but the hardware is often too cumbersome and expensive to be practical for commercial use.This I-Corps project is based on the premise that the intersection of different scientific disciplines leads to disruptive innovation. The project's technology is a fundamentally different approach to infrared radiation detection than those developed in the past 50+ years. This project pursues an optical solution to a semiconductor material processing problem which has hampered the realization of adequate production yield, manufacturing scalability, and device performance, resulting in too high a cost and limited suitability for many commercial applications. Previous progress on this project has focused on the theoretical development of the optical design and experimental verification of these nanofabricated structures. Initial results have been encouraging, and work continues to enhance responsivity, as well as other necessary device specifications. This I-Corps process will be used to refine our understanding of customer problems/needs and the potential for our technology to solve them. This will further inform our technology development path and specification focus, enabling the release of a useful product to market sooner.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.