Photonics in Food Safety: Can Mid-Infrared Spectrocsopy
Hunt a Cereal Killer?
Abstract
Photonic technologies have seen revolutionary developments in the past decades leading from conventional optics to on-chip photonic devices. Owing to the recent advances in mid-infrared (3-15 μm MIR) laser technology, especially cascade laser spectroscopy (CSL) has evolved into a state-of-the-art tool for the selective and sensitive quantification of trace analytes in liquid, solid, and gaseous state in a wide variety of sensing scenarios. High output power, narrow linewidths, single-mode operation, low power consumption, broad tunability and compact dimensions are just some of the most outstanding features of cascade lasers. Since their introduction, quantum cascade lasers (QCL) and interband cascade lasers (ICL) have rapidly matured, and have established themselves as the probably most important contemporary MIR laser light sources.
In this presentation, we will discuss state-of-the-art MIR sensing platforms that benefit from cascade lasers via their combination with innovative thin-film waveguide technologies providing direct access to molecule-specific information using evanescent field sensing schemes at yet unprecedented levels of sensitivity. However, decreasing the analytically probed volume may adversely affect the associated analytical figures of merit such as the signal-to-noise-ratio, the representativeness of the sample, or the fidelity of the obtained analytical signal. We will discuss the resulting consequences and strategies for a particularly relevant field of applications – food safety and food quality. As an example, we will highlight the detection of fungal infections and the resulting mycotoxin contamination of food, feed and commodities via MIR photonic sensing systems … and we will answer the question as to whether photonic technologies are indeed able to hunt a cereal killer !
Short Biography
Dr. Boris Mizaikoff is a Chaired Professor and Director of the Institute of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry at Ulm University, Germany. Since 2021, he is also a Director at the Hahn-Schickard Institute for Microanalysis Systems in Ulm. His research interests focus on optical sensors, biosensors, and biomimetic sensors in the mid-infrared spectral range, system miniaturization and integration based on micro- and nanofabrication, multifunctional (nano)analytical platforms, development of biomolecular/biomimetic recognition architectures, multivariate data evaluation, and applications in environmental analytics, process analysis, and biomedical/clinical diagnostics. He is author/co-author of 380+ peer-reviewed publications, 18 patents, and 100+ plenary, keynote, and invited contributions at scientific conferences.