A team of scientists led by Empa researcher Ivan Shorubalko in Dübendorf has developed a cost-effective miniaturization process for infrared spectrometers based on a quantum dot photodetector. The miniaturized infrared detectors can be integrated on a single chip, as was outlined in a press release for the latest edition of scientific journal Nature Photonics.
This is critical for their integration into next-generation consumer electronics, wearables and ultra-small satellites. Before now, infrared detectors have relied on bulky (and expensive) materials and technologies.
The new process will lead to the wider use of infrared spectrometers in consumer electronics, such as smartphones enabling food control, the detection of hazardous chemicals, air pollution monitoring and wearable electronics.
According to the press release, “they can be used for the quick and easy detection of certain chemicals without using laboratory equipment. Moreover, they can be useful for the detection of counterfeit medical drugs as well as of greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide”.
The team of scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), the University of Salamanca, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the University of Basel have now built a first prototype. This ultra-compact spectrometer design “may also be of great interest for miniaturized Raman spectrometers, biosensors and lab-on-a-chip devices as well as the development of high-resolution snapshot hyperspectral cameras,” explains Ivan Shorubalko.
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