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Sensors and Microscopy The Sensors and Microscopy Laboratory at NTRC focuses on photonics and remote sensing technologies for transportation applications, as well as applications for other industry and medicine. Researchers study advanced sensor technologies, phosphor thermometry, and optical materials including nanophosphors, LEDs, and €ber optics. The Sensors and Microscopy Lab researchers work closely with staff located on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) main campus, in related fields such as lasers and optics, micro- and nanoelectro-optics, and diagnostic technologies. Research Focus Research and development in the Sensors and Microscopy Lab focus on meeting the needs of researchers and technology applications through innovative applications of photonics and phosphors, primarily for non-contact sensing applications. Researchers have developed and implemented a wide variety of fiber optic sensor systems to sense parameters such as temperature, pressure, proximity, strain, and so forth; and to make transient measurements of such parameters. They have implemented fiber optics in techniques such as interferometry and optical time domain reflectometry. Research on fluorescing phosphors includes application as temperature sensors in non-contact measurement, and studying ways that phosphors can be used to create safer transportation infrastructure, such as more visible road signs and paint lines. Light-emitting diode (LED) arrays that emit in the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum can be combined with conventional vehicle headlights. The UV LED arrays do not emit visible light but can fluoresce, making phosphors in signs and highway lines more visible in poor conditions. Expertise Sensors and Microscopy Lab researchers have special expertise in developing innovative technologies for obtaining measurements in places that are very small or difficult to reach. Researchers also have expertise in developing techniques to obtain measurements in situ in operating machines and components. For example, fiber optic technologies were used in a first generation “weigh in motion” system that measures axle weight and center of mass in moving vehicles. Subsequent generations of the technology use primarily strain gauges; the system is now used by the Department of Defense aircraft loadmasters. Current research on fiber optics includes application in ship mooring ropes for measuring changes in rope length and integrity. Phosphor thermography applications developed in the Sensors and Microscopy Lab include temperature measurement on the surface of automotive pistons in a combustion environment, surface temperature measurement of steel during the galvannealing process, measurement of surface temperatures for in-service turbine vanes and boiler tubes, and quantification of temperature transients inside operating automotive catalysts. Collaboration with the remainder of ORNL’s Photonics Group staff located at the ORNL main campus provides access to expertise in the development of diffraction-based ranging for micrometer-resolution, microcantilever-based sensors, highly reflective sub-wavelength structures, Fourier imaging for identification and location of radioactive sources, hybrid solar lighting, and large-area, high-speed neutron imaging detectors. Spectroscopic expertise has been applied to control and measurement technologies for vehicle NOx reduction and to techniques for on-board vehicle exhaust analysis. R&D Facilities The Sensors and Microscopy Lab at NTRC houses a number of R&D capabilities, including an electron microscope and several optical microscopes. The lab has a DRIFT spectrometer with a heated gas cell, and an integrated cavity absorption spectrometer for gas sensing applications. It houses Fourier transform infrared spectrometers which are used for surface and gas-phase chemistry studies. The lab also has an optical table and videography capabilities. Partnerships and Collaborations The Sensors and Microscopy Lab is part of a larger photonics group
that resides the ORNL main campus. The group is part of ORNL’s
Engineering Science and Technology Division, which supports a broad
array of sensor and signal analysis technologies and capabilities
from nanoscale materials, devices, and systems to hand-held portable
instruments to advanced signal processing. Other partners include the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, National Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Rolls-Royce, and Cummins Engine Company.
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