Collaborative Research -- Sensors: Biochemical Sensors and Data Processing for Security
This research addresses current concerns about possible biochemical attacks threatening our national security. The investigators develop sensors and data processing for detecting sources of biological agents or toxic chemicals, and managing data-bases. This technology has further applications to environmental monitoring, controlling pollution, detecting explosives, and other scenarios. The investigators develop three categories of sensors for detecting bio-target molecules that bind to substrate-attached receptor molecules. The first exploits the frequency shift of an optical resonator from a change in its dielectric environment brought on by target adsorption. The second exploits the sensitivity of optical resonators to detect Raman spectra associated with the adsorbed targets. The third involves attaching fluorescent labels to secondary recognition molecules and detecting their light emissions when they bound to agents captured by substrate receptor molecules. Arrays of probes are created to screen for multiple targets, interacting with the signal processing. Strategies for making continuous sensing are considered. The signal processing part analyzes data from chemical sensor array networks, subject to resource constraints. The researchers derive physical models for substance dispersion in subway tunnels, shopping malls, city streets, airport bag screening, etc. Flux density sensors are included. This project analyzes the algorithms performance for optimally designing the arrays. To increase the functionality, the investigators consider moving sensors (robots, autonomous vehicles) and develop motion techniques while addressing other requirements (coverage, energy minimization.) The study involves managing high data volumes and processing power requirements that may arise from a large network.
