Created a cheap and accurate IR sensor that quickly determines the chemical composition

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have developed a key component for

optical sensors capable of accurately detectingchemical substances. The whispering gallery mode microresonator created by the scientists has a high sensitivity in the long infrared spectrum and is suitable for optical microelectronics.

New microresonator to hold light at nearly 100times longer than modern counterparts. It will be suitable for creating broadband frequency combs in the long-wave infrared spectrum, the scientists say. Recall that whispering gallery modes are one of the types of resonant waves.

Microresonator under a microscope (a-d) and its manufacturing technology (e). Image: Dingding Ren et al., Nature Communications

Frequency combs are laser beams, the spectrumwhich consists of a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency lines. This technology is used in a wide variety of electronic devices, from GPS and telecommunications networks to atomic clocks. Sensitivity expansion allows these sensors to be used for rapid simultaneous analysis of multiple chemicals.

Similar technology is needed to detect particlesand spectroscopic chemical identification. During this test, instruments analyze a sample of a gas or liquid to check for the presence of viruses, bacteria, or certain chemicals. Modern devices are large and expensive, and the tiny microresonator is assembled from germanium and can be integrated into everyday devices, the scientists add.

In the future, such sensors will make it possible to quickly conduct, for example, blood tests for the presence of viruses and bacteria and come to the doctor with ready-made results, the authors of the development say.

Read more:

The tomb of the “midwife of Jesus” was unearthed: scientists told what they found there

The "Christmas Comet" flies to the Earth. Last seen by Neanderthals

Two genes found in humans that are unlike any known