Monolithic frequency comb spectrometers

ended

Sensors are the heart of every smart technology. Capturing data of theSensors are the heart of every smart technology. Capturing data of the pollution in the air, infections of individual plants on a field, or our current physiological condition opens a variety of new possibilities. Cost effective and compact instruments that detect biomarkers in human exhaled breath have the potential to identify a number of severe diseases and various types of cancer. Optical sensors have the capability to realize such instruments that can be build into our mobile phones in future. The mid-infrared is the spectral region of choice, when it comes to sensing and spectroscopy, but mid-infrared technology is expensive, most components are bulky and often have a high power consumption. Monolithic integration and the possibility of large scale batch processing is a solution to overcome these limitations and to realize battery driven hand-held devices. Presently, integrated mid-infrared photonics rarely exists beyond theoretical concepts. This can be changed with this project by combining the best possible strategies to realize single-chip multi-species gas sensors. Fundamental research on frequency comb generation in quantum and interband cascade lasers will enable high resolution spectrometers without any movable parts. Optimized on-chip integrated photodetectors will allow ultra low-noise operation in or near the heterodyne noise limit even at room-temperature. Combined with on-chip integrated low-loss waveguides, extremely sensitive gas detection will be possible. Advanced stabilization schemes will enable ultra sensitive gas detection using compact low-budget electronics. All efforts are focused on the final goal to realize a miniaturized cost-effective tool to probe multiple biomarkers for breath analysis. Envisioning the early prediagnosis of diseases such as breast cancer, we particularly focus on the quantification of volatile organic components down to ppb concentration levels.