Optical Based Chemical Sensing Using Luminescent Nanomaterials

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project involves the exploitation of nano-materials as optical based chemical sensors. This innovative approach to chemical sensing will take advantage of the material's quantum size effects, such as enhanced absorption and photoluminescence properties (sensitivity), high surface areas for analyze sensing (miniaturization), and ease of synthetic preparation (specificity). The use of optical based sensors provides additional advantages, such as no electrical noise, fast response, ease of miniaturization, safe near flammables, more durable than electronics, and applications to remote sensing. The characterization of the optical and electronic properties of the nanomaterials is critical to their development into the proposed optical sensor arrays. This research will also contribute to the increasing information database of nanomaterials as they pertain to advanced electronic materials. The research will lay the groundwork for fabricating multi-analyze optical sensors. The technology, once successfully developed, will be used the semiconductor manufacturing industry.