Micro-Scale Photonic Trace Gas Sensor

The demand for highly sensitive trace gas detection down to part-per-billion (ppb) levels and exceptional selectivity is paramount across various fields, including environmental monitoring, industrial process control, and healthcare. Currently, such capabilities are only accessible through bulky and expensive high-end sensors, limiting their use primarily to research settings. However, the ERC Starting Grant project sCENT has recently achieved a significant breakthrough by demonstrating the first chip-scale sensor capable of ppb-level detection and selectivity equivalent to that of high-end instruments. These sensors merge the strengths of high-end commercial spectroscopic systems, offering sensitivity, selectivity, isotope detection capability, and long-term stability, while also being compact, lightweight, and requiring only microlitre sample volumes. This success was possible due to a pioneering waveguide design supporting air-like modes, demonstrated within the ERC Starting Grant sCENT.The current project aims to explore the disruptive innovation potential of the sCENT sensor concept, advancing it from a proof-of-concept to the next level of technological readiness. This entails (i) the development of a prototype module and (ii) its real-life application demonstration to study the metabolic emissions of methane-consuming bacteria native to permafrost soils.Additionally, the project encompasses crucial aspects such as IP protection management, monitoring target markets (primarily environmental intelligence), and designing a technology roadmap for the sensor's exploitation. Outreach activities are meticulously planned to promote the sensors to potential commercial partners, end-users, and stakeholders. The overarching vision for the sCENT sensor is to unlock new opportunities for large-scale in-situ gas monitoring with unparalleled data density, ultimately enhancing our capabilities for environmental intelligence in the face of our evolving climate.