Periodic Reporting for period 2 - OPTAPHI (European Joint Doctorate Programme on Optical Sensing using Advanced Photo-Induced Effects)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-01-01 al 2024-09-30
Photonics, the science of generating and manipulating light, is a key technology of the 21st century; it has been identified by the European Investment Bank as being one of the “building blocks of the next digital revolution”. Photonics underpins all aspects of modern society, including optical telecommunications, biophotonics, medical devices, optical sensors and materials processing, with a global market expected to reach €615 billion by 2020 and growing. Photonic sensors are a key element of the sector; measurement of molecular-specific optical transitions allows qualitative and quantitative analysis in-situ, without the need to chemically prepare or damage the sample in question, and hence is hugely attractive for a wide range of applications, from Process Analytical Technology (PAT) to biomedical diagnostics.
Due to Europe's strong activity in optical sensing and the large variety of applications, it is becoming increasingly difficult for all sectors to find highly skilled photonics graduates, particularly at the interfaces between sectors. In particular, optical sensing is intrinsically a multi-disciplinary topic, requiring expertise in chemistry, physics and engineering, making truly disruptive innovation difficult within a traditional Ph.D. project. The OPTAPHI network (pronounced opta-fy) aims to address this by training a cohort of doctoral students in the complementary fields of advanced spectroscopy and integrated optics. Specifically, the focus is on the methods of photo-acoustic and photo-thermal spectroscopy, and the compact semiconductor lasers and integration techniques that enable sensors based on these.
Within OPTAPHI, 14 Early Stage Researchers were enrolled in Double Doctorate degree programmes, studying at, and being awarded Ph.D. degrees from, two of the partner institutes. The training from leading research groups was complemented by secondment opportunities offered by the associated Partner Organisations, together with network-wide training events such as workshops and a summer school. The overall scientific objectives that were achieved included;
- The demonstration of novel Quartz Enhanced Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS) and Photo-Thermal Spectroscopy (PTS) configurations with improved sensitivity and compactness
- Improved detection of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) and propane by exploiting long wavelength 10+ μm laser sources
- The demonstration of highly sensitive Photo-Thermal Spectroscopy for liquid analysis for the first time
- The improvement of the compactness, robustness and power consumption of QEPAS to allow use on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- The demonstration of new methodologies to improve the sensitivity of PTS and QEPAS in the second overtone band,to allowing the use of low-cost telecoms components
Due to Europe's strong activity in optical sensing and the large variety of applications, it is becoming increasingly difficult for all sectors to find highly skilled photonics graduates, particularly at the interfaces between sectors. In particular, optical sensing is intrinsically a multi-disciplinary topic, requiring expertise in chemistry, physics and engineering, making truly disruptive innovation difficult within a traditional Ph.D. project. The OPTAPHI network (pronounced opta-fy) aims to address this by training a cohort of doctoral students in the complementary fields of advanced spectroscopy and integrated optics. Specifically, the focus is on the methods of photo-acoustic and photo-thermal spectroscopy, and the compact semiconductor lasers and integration techniques that enable sensors based on these.
Within OPTAPHI, 14 Early Stage Researchers were enrolled in Double Doctorate degree programmes, studying at, and being awarded Ph.D. degrees from, two of the partner institutes. The training from leading research groups was complemented by secondment opportunities offered by the associated Partner Organisations, together with network-wide training events such as workshops and a summer school. The overall scientific objectives that were achieved included;
- The demonstration of novel Quartz Enhanced Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS) and Photo-Thermal Spectroscopy (PTS) configurations with improved sensitivity and compactness
- Improved detection of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) and propane by exploiting long wavelength 10+ μm laser sources
- The demonstration of highly sensitive Photo-Thermal Spectroscopy for liquid analysis for the first time
- The improvement of the compactness, robustness and power consumption of QEPAS to allow use on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- The demonstration of new methodologies to improve the sensitivity of PTS and QEPAS in the second overtone band,to allowing the use of low-cost telecoms components
The project kick-off meeting was held in Cork, Ireland in January 2020. A project website was established at www.optaphi.eu and a Twitter account, @optaphi. Following the establishment of an agreement on Double Degree programmes between the 5 partner institutes, all 14 Early Stage Researchers were recruited; recruitment was via a centralised submission and assessment process. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the project, with some delays in recruitment/relocation of ESRs, and the first Workshop, originally planned to be held in Montpellier, France, was instead held as an online event in April 2021. However, all the ESRs were able to attend in person at the Summer School, held in Erice, Sicily, Italy in October 2021. Subsequent network events included workshops in Vienna, Austria (April 2022), Cork, Ireland (December 2022) and an in-person workshop in Montpellier (April 2023). The final event was a 5-day conference held in Castellaneta Marina, Italy in September 2023 – the Conference on Photonics for Advanced Spectroscopy & Sensing (C-PASS) 2023. This will be the first in a new series of biannual conferences, so look out for C-PASS 2025!
10 of the OPTAPHI ESRs have now submitted/graduated with a Double Degree, with a further 2 expected to do so in the coming months (the remaining 2 started late, so are not at submission stage yet).
10 of the OPTAPHI ESRs have now submitted/graduated with a Double Degree, with a further 2 expected to do so in the coming months (the remaining 2 started late, so are not at submission stage yet).
The scientific activities of OPTAPHI are grouped into three workpackages, with a team of Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) working on each. It should be noted that, while each ESR is nominally assigned to a particular WP, his/her project had relevance and input to other WPs as well. The three technical workpackages are:
WP1: Environmental Sensing
The main goal of WP1 was the realisation of a portable demonstrator to showcase the potential of the OPTAPHI technologies for high-sensitivity detection of a number of gases important for the environment, such as BTEX, methane, CO, CO2, N2O, etc. Several different laser technologies and sensing approaches were developed by 4 ESRs, including; compact QEPAS for UAVs; hybrid photonic crystal lasers; Long wavelength QCLs for BTEX and propane detection through QEPAS; and generation and detection of photo-thermal and photo-acoustic waves in solids for advanced near-field IR imaging.
WP2: Agri-Food Analysis
The goal of this workpackage was the realisation of PTS and/or QEPAS sensor capable of monitoring the quality of foods via target gas analytes such as basic amines (in particular ammonia) as an indicator for food degradation (fish). The 4 ESR projects within WP2 were: ultra-compact QEPAS by integrating cantilever hybrid laser with quartz tuning fork; QEPAS and PTS using low-cost telecoms wavelength lasers for food analysis; High Q factor Photonics Cavities for PTS; and Intracavity PTS with optical feedback for isotopic verification of food origin.
WP3: Industrial Process Monitoring
The main goal of WP3 is the realisation of high performance, innovative and compact sensing systems to be used for monitoring industrial processes. Sensing approaches like intra-cavity QEPAS for highly sensitive target gas measurements or PTS for detection of water in organic solvents will be developed. At the same time, improvement in the laser sources will be pursued by realising novel hybrid laser and single mode interband cascade lasers.
The ESRs have progressed well towards these targets, achieving different levels of maturity on both the laser and sensing aspects, depending on the starting TRL of the technology. This has included the design, fabrication and testing of a number of different laser devices, as well as building and optimising several lab-based spectroscopy setups. A total of 24 journal articles (with a further 10 articles in preparation) and over 50 conference papers related to OPTAPHI have been published.
WP1: Environmental Sensing
The main goal of WP1 was the realisation of a portable demonstrator to showcase the potential of the OPTAPHI technologies for high-sensitivity detection of a number of gases important for the environment, such as BTEX, methane, CO, CO2, N2O, etc. Several different laser technologies and sensing approaches were developed by 4 ESRs, including; compact QEPAS for UAVs; hybrid photonic crystal lasers; Long wavelength QCLs for BTEX and propane detection through QEPAS; and generation and detection of photo-thermal and photo-acoustic waves in solids for advanced near-field IR imaging.
WP2: Agri-Food Analysis
The goal of this workpackage was the realisation of PTS and/or QEPAS sensor capable of monitoring the quality of foods via target gas analytes such as basic amines (in particular ammonia) as an indicator for food degradation (fish). The 4 ESR projects within WP2 were: ultra-compact QEPAS by integrating cantilever hybrid laser with quartz tuning fork; QEPAS and PTS using low-cost telecoms wavelength lasers for food analysis; High Q factor Photonics Cavities for PTS; and Intracavity PTS with optical feedback for isotopic verification of food origin.
WP3: Industrial Process Monitoring
The main goal of WP3 is the realisation of high performance, innovative and compact sensing systems to be used for monitoring industrial processes. Sensing approaches like intra-cavity QEPAS for highly sensitive target gas measurements or PTS for detection of water in organic solvents will be developed. At the same time, improvement in the laser sources will be pursued by realising novel hybrid laser and single mode interband cascade lasers.
The ESRs have progressed well towards these targets, achieving different levels of maturity on both the laser and sensing aspects, depending on the starting TRL of the technology. This has included the design, fabrication and testing of a number of different laser devices, as well as building and optimising several lab-based spectroscopy setups. A total of 24 journal articles (with a further 10 articles in preparation) and over 50 conference papers related to OPTAPHI have been published.