UiTrace: Ultra-sensitive Integrated Trace gas sensors
TFS Starting Grant (July 2018 – June 2022), Tromsø Science Foundation
The first part of the UiTrace project aims to strengthen the applied aspects of the “high risk – high gain” research pursued within my recently funded FRIPRO and ERC Starting Grant projects. The principal challenge of UiTrace will be to demonstrate the great impact of this research for UAV-conducted methane emission measurements in the Arctic. Integration of a sensor chip with MIR laser source, detector, and a microfluidic system will be pursued within a consortium of partners from top research institutions in Norway, EU, and Switzerland.
The second part of the project focuses on extending the scope of the sensors beyond methane detection. More specifically, a development of a CO2 sensor for isotope specific medical breath analysis will be pursued.
sCENT: Cryptophane-Enhanced Trace Gas Spectroscopy for On-Chip Methane Detection
ERC Starting Grant project (Jan. 2018- Dec. 2022), European Research Council
This high risk/high gain project has as its principal objective the study of sensitivity enhancement will be achieved by pre-concentrating gas molecules directly on a chip surface using cryptophanes.
Cryptophanes are macromolecular structures that can bind and thus pre-concentrate different small molecules, including methane. Spectroscopic detection of methane when trapped in a cryptophane host is an absolute novelty, and, if successful, it will not only contribute to unprecedented sensitivity enhancement, but will also address fundamental questions about the dynamics of small molecules upon encapsulation.
The actual gas sensing will be realized using evanescent field interaction in photonic crystal waveguides, which exhibit both large evanescent field confinement and long effective interaction pathlengths due to the slow-light effect.
MICRO-Sense: Mid-Infrared CRyptophane-enhanced On-chip Sensor
FRINATEK Young Research Talents (2017-2021), The Research Council of Norway
The principal objective of MICRO-Sense is to realize a novel mid-infrared nanophotonic sensing platform for trace gas detection, which will be unique in terms of sensitivity and size. Using a new design of free-standing slot waveguides cladded with a sensitive layer, 1000-times higher sensitivity is targeted as compared to existing sensors within the same price and size category.
Past projects: Sensor Technology (2015-2017)
Read more (in Norwegian):
http://forskning.no/miljoovervakning-teknologi/2016/05/storrelsen-har-alt-si-denne-metangassensoren