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Photonic gas sensors – for everyone, everywhere

Development of a new class of miniaturized optical gas sensors on a chip for air quality monitoring.

Optical gas sensors are widely used in industry and agriculture, to ensure safety of personnel and to monitor and automate processes. They exploit the absorption of light by gas at specific wavelength, the color of light, and thus feature high selectivity, stability and fast response. However, their large size and high cost limit their use in Internet of Things (IoT) applications where personal gas sensors are embedded in wearable devices or in public infrastructure such as street lights, busses and unmanned aerial vehicles. 

We combine integrated silicon photonics and two-dimensional materials to miniaturize optical gas sensors on a chip. Our approach leverages low-cost manufacturing in large volumes using established techniques from the semiconductor industry and may become the main choice for both existing and new applications – empowering everyone to monitor air quality for improved safety and health.

Project members:

Kristinn Gylfason

Floria Ottonello Briano

Arne Quellmalz