Photonic devices for monitoring greenhouse gases and other environmental contaminants in air and water

光学传感方法正在整个高科技奋进迅速扩展。从汽车激光雷达到测量水果的成熟度，光学传感技术的发展和增长机会是巨大的。在我们的工作中，我们寻求采用光学方法来检测对人类健康和环境具有重要意义的特定化合物。 我们将首先开发具有成本效益、耐用和灵敏的系统，用于检测甲烷和二氧化碳这两种最重要的温室气体。在城市和农村地区，需要准确和低成本的技术来监测温室气体的总体背景水平，以便确定排放源，作出快速反应，发现总的趋势，评价环境承诺是否得到履行，甚至评估这些至关重要的气体的新来源。对于水，也需要测量加拿大卫生部要求的大量杂质水平，特别是在偏远和农村社区的现场。但目前还没有简单的技术可以真正做到这一切，而且大多数方法都很昂贵，耗时，需要训练有素的实验室人员。我们将与工业合作者合作开发光学设备，这些设备可以检测大多数污染物所需的亚ppm水平的杂质，同时专注于实际部署的成本和易用性。 这项工作将涉及光学和激光技术的实验方法。发光材料的发展包括纳米颗粒（例如，硅纳米晶体）和用于近红外和中红外激光器的薄膜以及用于中红外高反射率的耐用多层材料，包括坚固的高k值和金属介电多层中的金纳米颗粒。这些材料特性将用于形成中红外传感器技术的关键组件。微光子探测系统还需要设计和优化中红外光波导技术，包括机载光源和探测器。 我们与几家专注于环境传感和中红外光源和激光器开发的当地公司合作。我们工作的主题是在光学和光子学的“宏观”和“微观”光子系统，可以部署在短期内，在实验室以外的真实的世界环境的发展。主要技术与光学发射器和探测器有关，它们需要灵敏和耐用，以及数据分析方法。

Optical sensing methods are rapidly expanding throughout the high-tech endeavor. From automobile LIDARs to measuring the ripeness of fruit, the opportunity for development and growth of optical sensing technologies is enormous. In our work, we seek to employ optical methods for sensing specific compounds of importance to human health and the environment. We will first develop cost-effective, durable, and sensitive systems for detection of methane and CO2, two of the most important greenhouse gases. Accurate and low-cost technologies are needed in urban and rural areas to monitor overall background GHG levels, in order to determine emission sources, allow fast responses, find general trends, evaluate whether environmental commitments are met, and even to appraise new sources of these critically important gases. For water too, there is a need to measure a host of impurities at the levels required by Health Canada, especially on-site in remote and rural communities. But there is currently no simple technology that can actually do all this, and most methods are expensive, time consuming, and require trained laboratory personnel. We will work with industrial collaborators on optical devices that can detect impurities at the sub ppm levels required for most contaminants, while focusing on cost and ease of use for practical deployment. The work will involve experimental methods in optics and laser technologies. The development of light-emitting materials includes nanoparticles (e.g., silicon nanocrystals) and thin films for near and mid-IR lasers and durable multilayer materials for high-reflectivity in the mid-IR including gold nanoparticles in robust high-k dielectrics and metallic-dielectric multilayers. These material properties will be applied to form key components of mid-IR sensor technologies. Microphotonic detection systems also will require design and optimization of mid-IR optical waveguide technologies that could include on-board light sources and detectors. We work with several local companies specializing in environmental sensing and the development of mid-infrared light sources and lasers. The main theme of our work is in optics and photonics the development of both “macro” and “micro” photonics systems that can be deployed in the near term, in real world environments outside the laboratory. The main technologies are associated with optical emitters and detectors, which need to be sensitive and durable, and in the data analysis methods.