Use of mid-infrared light opens way for breakthroughs in medicine and environment
The National Science Foundation has funded a multimillion-dollar
engineering research center based at Princeton University that is
expected to revolutionize sensor technology, yielding devices that have
a unique ability to detect minute amounts of chemicals found in the
atmosphere, emitted from factories or exhaled in human breath.
The goal of the research is to produce devices that are so low in cost
and easy to use that they transform aspects of the way doctors care for
patients, local agencies monitor air quality, governments guard against
attack and scientists understand the evolution of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere.
Core partner institutions with Princeton are the University of
Maryland-Baltimore County, Rice University, Johns Hopkins University,
Texas A&M University and the City College of New York. Funding for
the center, which is expected to include industrial support in addition
to the NSF funding, could exceed $40 million over 10 years. NSF funding
started May 1 with $2.97 million for the first year.
The center -- dubbed MIRTHE, for Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health
and the Environment -- will combine the work of about 40 faculty
members, 30 graduate students and 30 undergraduates from the six
universities. The center also is collaborating with dozens of
industrial partners to turn the technology into commercial products,
and is working with several educational outreach partners, which will
use MIRTHE's research as a vehicle for improving science and
engineering education.
The work of the center will span from fundamental science to applied
technology. At the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, for
example, Professor Terence Risby and colleagues are developing devices
that allow doctors to diagnose and monitor kidney and liver disorders
by measuring chemicals in a patient's breath. Other MIRTHE participants
will explore sensors that monitor air quality or detect chemical
weapons.
"The sensors we are creating will be portable and easy to use," said Claire Gmachl, associate professor of electrical engineering
at Princeton and the center's director. "Today's state-of-the-art
sensors are very sensitive, but require an expert to operate and are
bulky and expensive. MIRTHE's vision is to make sensors with the same
or better level of sensitivity at a fraction of the size and cost."
The center's deputy directors are Anthony Johnson, professor of physics
and professor of computer science and electrical engineering and
director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research at
University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and Matthew Fraser, associate
professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University.
A key technology enabling the center's work is the quantum cascade
laser, which is named for the way the electrons "cascade" through thin
layers of material stacked within the device. Gmachl, a member of the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials
(PRISM), is a pioneer in creating quantum cascade lasers and is a
recipient of a 2005 MacArthur "genius grant" in recognition of that
work.
The major advantage of quantum cascade lasers is that they emit light
in regions of the spectrum known as the mid-infrared. The ability to
produce and detect these wavelengths allows scientists to "see" certain
chemicals in the same way that sunlight and the human eye reveal
everyday objects. "When viewed in the mid-infrared, the world is alive
with chemicals like ammonia, carbon, methane, carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide and benzene," said Fraser. "The ability to detect or monitor
these gases with a high degree of sensitivity provides important
information about the processes that produced them."
"If you look in your house, probably the only laser you'll find is in
your CD player, just as 30 years ago you would have found very few
transistors in the average home," said Tim Day, chief executive officer
of Daylight Solutions, a manufacturer of advanced detection and imaging
instruments and one of MIRTHE's industrial partners. "But now
transistors are everywhere -- wristwatches, microwaves, TVs. Sensors
based on quantum cascade lasers are poised to become just as
ubiquitous. MIRTHE is on the front end of making that happen."
An important aspect of MIRTHE is that it stresses both fundamental
science and practical applications, said Alexey Belyanin, assistant
professor of physics at Texas A&M University. "This center adopts a
comprehensive, unifying approach that pushes forward each of the
necessary ingredients for a sensor: infrared sources, detectors,
circuits, interconnects -- all while working in close collaboration
with end users," he said.
This approach will allow each of MIRTHE's research teams to capitalize
quickly on each other's advances, said Johnson. "We make use of
established technologies while also pursuing novel high-risk
approaches," he said. "The potential payoff is enormous."
A key mission of MIRTHE is to help ensure a competitive U.S. work force
by educating students who carry forward the center's knowledge to
industry, government and academia. The center seeks to make science
attractive to a diverse population of students by demonstrating the
direct relevance of technology in solving societal problems. MIRTHE
will incorporate extensive efforts to engage college and K-12 students
in hands-on science and engineering projects, with major outreach
programs taking place at the City College of New York, the University
of Maryland-Baltimore County and Princeton.
Fred Moshary, professor of electrical engineering at the City College
of New York, said MIRTHE's goals are an excellent match for current
activities at CCNY. "Our programs have a strong focus on recruitment
and training of traditionally underrepresented minorities in science
and engineering," Moshary said.
At the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, MIRTHE will partner
with the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, which is recognized nationally as
a model for preparing high-achieving undergraduate students,
particularly African Americans, for research careers in science and
engineering.
MIRTHE's Student Leadership Council, headed by Princeton graduate
student Afusat Dirisu, will organize student involvement in the center
by planning talks and student exchanges between groups. "The many
universities and industry partners behind MIRTHE are definitely a big
plus for students because they will give us many opportunities to
explore," said Dirisu.
H. Vincent Poor, the incoming dean of engineering
at Princeton, echoed this theme. "Collaborations that transcend
individual departments and institutions are the wave of the future,"
Poor said. "Bringing together people of diverse expertise to work on
important and very complex problems creates a highly effective
environment for research. It's also the best way to educate students
for leadership in an increasingly technological world."
The center builds on research connections that have existed for many
years between the partner universities, each a recognized center of
excellence in sensing and associated fields. "We are delighted to be
partnering with Princeton and the other fine institutions in the
engineering research center's critical work," said Freeman Hrabowski,
president of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, which is
contributing expertise in optical materials, mid-infrared sources and
environmental science.
MIRTHE is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center,
one of several interdisciplinary centers located at universities across
the United States. The centers are among the foundation's largest and
most prestigious grants. The NSF has agreed to provide $15 million in
funding over five years, with the possibility of renewal for another
five years. Through additional funding from corporate partners and
other sources, the center is expected to conduct more than $40 million
in research and educational activities over 10 years.
