Planar Lightwave Circuit based Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Spectrometer wit

描述（由申请人提供）：在这项小型企业技术转让研究（STTR）计划中，Omega Optics和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校提议开发一种基于平面光波电路的表面增强拉曼散射（Sers）光谱仪，用于单分子检测。Sers光谱仪的灵敏度来自于金纳米线之间的5 nm间隙，其可以实现拉曼散射信号的108增强因子（EF）。特别是，这些金纳米线被精确地定位在谐振腔中的一个精致的纳米实体操纵技术-电镊子，一种技术，可以自由地移动金属纳米线到预定义的位置。因此，Sers热点是通过可重复和可控的方式获得的。此外，所提出的片上Sers光谱仪是基于谐振腔增强（RCE）聚合物波导具有非凡的光强度增强。共振效应能够进一步提高Sers的灵敏度至少四个数量级。与1012的增强因子，总的，建议的芯片上的Sers光谱仪，预计将实现单分子检测能力，即使是那些非常小的拉曼散射截面。研究或开发的预期效益/潜在商业应用：所提出的基于平面光波电路的Sers光谱仪将导致一类新的拉曼传感技术的发展，具有非常高的灵敏度和易用性。它在生物医学研究、化学工程和环境监测中有广泛的应用。此外，它可以在实验室和现场使用。 公共卫生相关性：在这项小型企业技术转移研究（STTR）计划中，Omega Optics和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校提议开发一种基于平面光波电路的表面增强拉曼散射（Sers）光谱仪，其灵敏度增强1012，用于单分子检测。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this small business technology transfer research (STTR) program, Omega Optics and the University of Texas at Austin propose to develop a planar lightwave circuit based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrometer for single molecule detection. The sensitivity of the SERS spectrometer comes from the 5-nm gap between gold nanowires, which can achieve 108 enhancement factor (EF) for the Raman scattering signals. Especially, these gold nanowires are precisely positioned in the resonant cavity by an exquisite nano-entity manipulation technology --- electrical tweezers, a technique with which one can freely move metallic nanowires to predefined positions. Thus the hot-spots for SERS are obtained by a repeatable and controllable manner. Additionally, the proposed on-chip SERS spectrometer is based on resonant cavity enhanced (RCE) polymer waveguides with extraordinary optical intensity enhancement. The resonant effect is capable of further increasing the sensitivity of the SERS by at least four orders of magnitude. With 1012 enhancement factor in total, the proposed on-chip SERS spectrometer is expected to achieve single-molecule-detection capability even for those with very small Raman scattering cross sections. Anticipated Benefits/Potential Commercial Applications of the Research or Development: The proposed planar lightwave circuit based SERS spectrometer will lead to the development of a new class of Raman sensing technique with extraordinarily high sensitivity and ease of use. It can find broad applications in biomedical research, chemical engineering, and environment monitoring. Plus, it can be used both in the laboratory and in the field. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: In this small business technology transfer research (STTR) program, Omega Optics and the University of Texas at Austin propose to develop a planar lightwave circuit based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrometer with 1012 sensitivity enhancement for single molecule detection.