Technologies and Applications for Miniature Optical Spectrometers and Spectroscopic Sensors

Level: Intermediate Length: 4 hours Format: In-Person Lecture Intended Audience: Developers of miniature spectroscopic devices and sensors, and their applications, who work in universities, research institutes, government and early-stage companies. Description: In the past twenty years optical spectrometers have shrunk dramatically in size, giving us successively laboratory-portable, toaster-sized, instruments; cordless-drill-sized portable instruments for use in the field; and onto spectrometers the size of a computer mouse or deck of cards. The latest development in portable spectroscopy is the availability of very low-cost multispectral sensors, the size of computer chips, leading to the possibility of embedding them into consumer goods. Multispectral sensors can now not only be incorporated into ‘white goods’ like washing machines and dryers, but also into ‘fitness’ products like smart watches and sports watches, and as photonic miniaturization increases, into ‘wearables’ like smart rings, providing the user with health information. A variety of photonic components and technologies can be utilized for these miniature devices including silicon photonics and photonic integrated circuits (PICs), produced en masse using semiconductor manufacturing techniques; components from LiDAR including SPAD arrays; electronically-tunable detectors; and 'photonic’, ‘plasmonic’ and ‘computational’ devices. This course surveys technologies and applications for miniature optical spectrometers and spectroscopic sensors. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - explain the range of current miniature (handheld/portable) optical spectrometers - explain the technologies and applications of these spectrometers - explain photonics technologies that can further miniaturize optical spectrometers and sensors, and the current advances in this area - explain the potential applications of these devices in consumer products - describe the complexities of some of the proposed applications of the these devices - describe the key differences between qualitative and quantitative spectroscopic applications, and the implications for their development and deployment Instructor(s): Richard A. Crocombe , PhD, has worked in the analytical instrument business for 40 years, the last 20 in the field of miniature and portable spectroscopy, and the last five as a consultant. He has published extensively in portable spectroscopy, including being the lead editor on the two-volume book “Portable Spectroscopy and Spectrometry”, published by John Wiley in 2021; recent publications include the application of these instruments to counterfeit drugs and fentanyl analysis in the field. He is the co-chair of SPIE’s ‘Next-Generation Spectroscopic Technologies’ and has taught several short courses on this topic at other conferences. Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2024 Course Held: 24 April 2024