Industrial application of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) for detection and monitoring of water pollutants

When light interacts with matter, different effects may take place, depending on the particular characteristics of both light and matter. The result of this interaction, typically a quantitative change in the characteristics of the light (i.e., intensity, wavelength, phase), can be used to measure the presence of a particular specimen of interest. Specifically, Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) has demonstrated to be able to detect accurately very low concentrations of chemical species. This optical effect represents a potential solution to the detection of small quantities of pollutants in water. In parallel, many useful configurations have been studied based on fiber optics technologies, with a variety of configurations that improve the light-matter interactions. This project is focused on investigating the combination of SERS with different configurations of optical fiber devices, with the aim of exploiting both the potential of SERS and the versatility of optical fibers to develop a device to efficiently evaluate water quality.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jacques Albert

Student:

Violeta Marquez

Partner:

Institut national d'optique

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Carleton University