Plasmonic sensor project gets €2.8m EU funding

According to the project, IR technology is starting to flourish in a number of market sectors, with the mid IR range becoming an important region for fingerprinting molecules and proteins. As such, advances in mid IR detectors will be of fundamental importance. While specific molecules are identified using spectroscopic chemical sensing (SCS), these systems have yet to benefit from developments in optical telecommunications and nanotechnology. The goal of the PLAISIR project is to use these developments to enhance SCS systems to help in the detection of CO2, a critical factor in global warming, and glucose, a key diagnostic marker for diabetes in an aging population. In addition, the same advances in technology will be used to develop better IR cameras. The key to improving both mid IR detectors and SCS is nanotechnology, which has the ability to confine and control light at both wavelength and sub wavelength scales through a phenomenon known as plasmonics. The project, which includes Xenics, Photon Design, Vigo System SA, Poland), (Queen's University Belfast, University of Zaragoza and Technical University of Dresden, is being led by CSEM, the Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology.