HyperSpectral Terahertz neAR-field nanoscope exploiting miniaturized frequency-combs

Informations projet

STAR

N° de convention de subvention: 101081567

DOI

10.3030/101081567

Projet clôturé

Date de signature de la CE 30 Juin 2022

Date de début 1 Decembre 2022

Date de fin 31 Mai 2024

Financé au titre de

• European Research Council (ERC)

Coût total

Aucune donnée

Contribution de l’UE

€ 150 000,00

Coordonné par

CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - STAR (HyperSpectral Terahertz neAR-field nanoscope exploiting miniaturized frequency-combs)

Période du rapport: 2022-12-01 au 2024-05-31

Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet

‘STAR’ aims to increase the technology readiness level of the state-of-the-art graphene-integrated, miniaturized frequency comb (FC) quantum cascade laser (QCL), operating at terahertz (THz) frequencies, devised under the ERC consolidator grant ‘SPRINT’, and develop a detector-less sensing/imaging demonstrator apt to the translation of this technology to industrial end-users.

The focus is on providing a compact, low-cost, hyperspectral, nanoscale imaging system, which creates amplitude- and phase-resolved images, employing the not-invasive broadband THz-frequency light of a metrological frequency-comb source, without making use of an external detector.
This nanoscope ensures 40-100 nm spatial resolution, >100 times smaller than the THz free-space wavelength, coherent detection and mapping of the THz optical response of materials over the continuous 2-5 THz bandwidth provided by a fully stabilized THz QCL FC, with noise-equivalent-power <10pW/√Hz and fast acquisition rates, far exceeding the performances of commercial time-domain spectroscopy near-field systems.

Specific objectives are to manufacture a compact, portable and user-friendly THz hyperspectral nanoscope, validate its core technology with commercial end-users and at trade-shows and evaluate opportunities for THz FC self-detection nanoscopy, identifying novel end-user applications, with a detailed market, IPR and regulatory compliance study. By the end of this programme, I plan to identify a solid exploitation route by directly interacting with THz instrument producers and with targeted commercial end-users.

Pushing forward a solid commercial exploitation route, STAR prospects new directions and long-term impacts on many interdisciplinary fields crossing engineering, biology, medicine, cultural heritage, material science and quantum technology, and in a frontier frequency domain where electronics and photonics find a fascinating convergence.


https://thz-photonics.nano.cnr.it/erc-2022-poc2star/

Travail effectué depuis le début du projet jusqu’à la fin de la période considérée dans le rapport et principaux résultats atteints jusqu’à présent

The activities performed are listed below:

- Construct a portable, optical-breadboard-based frequency comb s-SNOM system
- Development of heterogenueous THz QCL FC combining, in one chip, the 2.5 THz, 3 THz, 3.5 THz, 4 THz QCL FC.
- Development and test of the THz s-SNOM FC-based nanoscopy system, based on a cryogen-free cooler mounted on transportable optical breadboard (
- Construction of a dedicated data-processing interface for demonstration to end-users of the novel s-SNOM system
- Refined nanoscope presented in technical exhibition events and the Neaspec attocube dedicated event (June 2024 , Munich)

Progrès au-delà de l’état des connaissances et impact potentiel prévu (y compris l’impact socio-économique et les conséquences sociétales plus larges du projet jusqu’à présent)

we have extensive interest in our technology from several end-users, including:
- local security services for identifying illicit drugs and explosives;
- the Center for Space Geodesy (CGS) of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for what concerns the investigation of inorganic materials of interest for energy-storage, mineralogy, archaeology and corrosion sciences;
- medical and diagnostic centers for inspecting enveloped viruses (CoV, IFV, HIV, Ebola, etc.) and how they enter into a host cell to reveal new membrane penetration mechanisms and inhibition processes for antiviral therapies;
- micro-biology laboratories for bio-spectroscopy of proteins;
- electronic industries (for identifying surface strain, defects in microchips and tablet coatings);
- pharmaceutical industries (non-destructive, chemical analysis of tablets, capsules, and other dosage forms).

In addition to that, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has posed the urgency to develop innovative technologies for reliable, world-scalable and cost-effective diagnostics, therapy and vaccine engineering to tackle infectious diseases. Our THz nanoscope instrument has also the potential to provide conformational characterization with chemical specificity of biomolecular and cellular nanosystems, shedding light on key aspects of metabolism and transmission of pathogens, to complement existing imaging tools and identify new platforms for label-free THz biosensing. As an example, it will provide the broadband spectral coverage combined with the needed resolution to study large viruses like coronaviridae, that have average diameter from 80 to 200 nm. We thus expect huge impact on medical diagnostic.

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