Molecular Spectroscopy
The exhaled breath is a rich source of information about the inner life of the human body - but untangling this complicated molecular mixture into a quantitative measurement of its constituent components is currently an unsolved problem.
We are developing a new instrument that leverages the Nobel Prize-winning technology of the optical frequency comb to enable the analysis of such mixtures. The optical frequency comb is essentially a massively parallel laser source with millions of individual laser signals equally spaced across the optical spectrum. By combining a frequency comb source with an innovative parallel detector and a highly sensitive sampling system, we can generate a real-time spectral signature of the sample. Computational techniques developed by the radio astronomy community will then be used to extract concentrations of individual molecular components at the parts-per-billion level.
The principle of optical absorption spectroscopy. The characteristic molecular absorption of the sample is imprinted onto the transmitted light, which is converted by the spectrometer into an absorption spectrum.
For Postdoctoral, Honours, Masters and PhD opportunities, please contact Dr Sarah Scholten for more information.