Chemistry’s Robert Levis (left), along with graduate students Elizabeth Judge (center) and George Heck, demonstrate remote sensing technology using a femtosecond laser at the Center for Advanced Photonics Research.

Robert Levis, chair of chemistry and director of the Center for Advanced Photonics Research

(CAPR), has been awarded a three-year, $3 million grant with a two-year, $2 million renewal option— from the federal government to develop new chemical sensors using laser based technology that will allow “chemical mapping” through remote or stand-off detection.

According to Levis, most matter that we come in contact with consists of molecules, and almost every event in nature has a chemical signature. “If you can figure out a way to map molecules at a distance to see the signatures, you can then chemically map remote terrain and urban structures or track events where they happen, even days after the events occur,” he said.

Levis said the project, which is being funded through the Army Research Office, will develop new detection methodologies, or chemical sensors, that leverage technologies previously developed by CAPR through multimillion dollar grants for such projects as the use of photonics reagents and chemical threat agent detection. The core approach for the chemical sensors, he said, would transition technology developed in these previous projects.

“It’s like we took an engine out of a Cadillac and built a hydroplane around it,” said Levis, a pioneer in laser-based chemistry, adaptive photonics and bio-photonics. “This new technology has been enhanced with strong math and theory components.”

 CAPR, which is focused on developing new science and technologies through intense laser molecule interactions, has three of the most powerful laser systems on the East Coast, each with state of the-art laser pulse shaping capabilities. Research ranges from probing fundamental physics principles to creating cyclic ozone to detecting chemical warfare agents.

“We have already demonstrated the ability to distinguish between materials that are very closely related at a distance of about 30 meters,” said Levis, who will serve as co-principal investigator on the project along with Dmitri Romanov, a research associate professor in physics and a member of CAPR. “If something was on a wall about 30 meters away, we can tell you exactly what is on there in less than a second. The core advance of the technology is the way to map molecules at a distance.”

Levis said the new technology would offer a wide range of applications, including atmospheric sensing for pollutants, mapping terrain and assaying the integrity of structures such as bridges and skyscrapers.

“We envision being able to use this technology for solving engineering problems,” he said. “For example, with the condition of a lot of our bridges today, we are worried about what is going on in certain sections of the structure that are not easily reachable. We could spend days or weeks setting up a scaffold to inspect it or, we easily could ‘map it’ from a distance with these sensors and see what the atomic and molecular makeup is of the materials in that section in a few minutes.”

Temple created the Center for Advanced Photonics Research when it recruited Levis to the university in 2002. “This is just another good example of how a wise investment by the university has led to cutting edge research,” Levis said.

In addition to Temple, the Army Research Office has awarded similar grants to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton University. Levis and CAPR will collaborate with Proteus Optics, the mathematics department at Yale University and Plain Sight Systems on the grant.

By Preston M. Moretz

preston.moretz@temple.edu