Diamond Devices for Extreme Environmental Sensing

向净零碳经济的转变意味着我们必须更有效地利用地球资源，并更多地了解我们对能源的需求对我们环境的影响。因此，在极端条件下远程部署时，对能够进行痕量化学检测的设备的需求从未像现在这样大。这些地点可以是陆上或离岸的，用于污染检测或识别有价值的地质遗址。例如，陆上和深海地点都被认为是潜在的碳储存区域。传统的电子传感器技术通常使用硅等材料，这些材料无法承受我们越来越需要放置传感器进行环境监测的化学和物理挑战环境。拉曼光谱是一种很好的化学识别技术，例如在海洋环境或地质上偏远的环境中，因为它基于光学检测，但单独使用它不足以进行必要的痕量级检测。另一方面，表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)的灵敏度可以达到标准拉曼的10亿倍。表面增强拉曼光谱涉及纳米粒子或表面特征，这些粒子或表面特征在光照下可以显示出等离子体共振。然而，由于这些等离子体SERS底物的易碎性，SERS测量仅限于实验室环境。钻石虽然广为人知是一种宝石，但现在可以在实验室中生长，并具有优异的光学特性。伦敦大学学院正在探索在钻石薄膜中加入金属纳米颗粒和使用纳米结构等离子钻石表面，以使第一个强大的SERS技术能够在极端的陆上和离岸环境中检测一系列物种。对于这个以实验为基础的博士学位，成功的候选人将加入由Jackman教授领导的热情友好的钻石电子小组(DEG)，并将享受在LCN最先进的洁净室设施中制造器件的前景，使用扫描探针显微镜和原子层沉积系统等工具，以及使用‘等离子体’化学气相沉积方法生长钻石。这个EPSRC博士项目是由斯伦贝谢剑桥研究中心赞助的，学生将积极与该中心合作。斯伦贝谢在全球能源转型中发挥着重要作用，其愿景是可持续地定义和推动高绩效，分担现在就采取行动的责任，并迅速采取行动，实现世界能源体系的脱碳。

The move to a net-zero carbon economy means we have to be more efficient in the way we use the planet's resources and know more about the effect that our need for energy is having on our environment. Thus, the need for devices capable of trace chemical detection when deployed remotely in extreme conditions has never been greater. Such locations may be on-shore or off-shore, be for pollution detection or the identification of valuable geological sites. For example, both on-shore and deep ocean sites are considered potential regions for carbon storage. Conventional electronic sensor technologies typically use materials such as silicon that are not able to withstand the chemically and physically challenging environments that we increasingly need to place sensors for environmental monitoring. Raman spectroscopy is an excellent technique for chemical identification in, for example, marine environments or those that are geologically remote, as it is based on optical detection, but alone it is insufficiently sensitive for the necessary trace-level sensing.Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) on the other hand can be up to one-billion times as sensitive as standard Raman. SERS involves nano-sized particles or surface features that can display plasmonic resonance when under illumination. However, SERS measurements are restricted to the laboratory environment due to the fragile nature of these plasmonic SERS substrates. Diamond, though widely known as a gemstone, can now be grown in a laboratory and has excellent optical properties for this application. Both the incorporation of metallic nanoparticles within a diamond film and the use of nanostructured plasmonic diamond surfaces are being explored here at UCL to enable the first robust SERS technology to developed for detection of a range of species within extreme onshore and off-shore environments.For this experimentally based PhD, the successful candidate will join the enthusiastic and friendly Diamond Electronics Group (DEG) led by Professor Jackman and will enjoy the prospect of device fabrication in the LCN's state-of-the-art cleanroom facilities, using tools such as scanning probe microscopes and atomic layer deposition systems, as well as growing diamond using 'plasma' chemical vapour deposition methods. The This EPSRC PhD project is sponsored by Schlumberger Cambridge Research Centre with whom the student will actively collaborate. Schlumberger plays an important role to play in the global energy transition, with a vision to define and drive high performance sustainably, sharing the responsibility to act now and to act fast to decarbonize the world's energy system.