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News Release
March 2, 2007
Boise State Engineering Professor Develops Micro-Sensor with EPA
Funds Awarded to University's Center for Environmental Sensing
Boise State University engineering professor Wan Kuang will receive start-up
funding to develop a micro-sensor that can be used to identify and measure
contaminants from a chemical spill or other industrial source, or agents used in
chemical warfare.
The $50,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was awarded to
the university’s Center for Environmental Sensing as part of a program to
encourage innovative new research, said Molly Gribb, the center’s director.
Kuang, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
will work with Amy Moll, chair of the Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, on developing “High-Sensitivity Metal Dielectric Plasmon Surface
Micro-Sensors.”
The micro-sensor Kuang is developing could be used to detect contaminants in
vapors or in liquids. Hundreds or even thousands of different sensors could be
integrated onto a single microchip so that the miniaturized device could measure
multiple chemical substances simultaneously, Kuang said. This would be a
significant advance over micro-sensors currently in use, which are capable of
only detecting a few different chemicals at the same time.
To build the sensor, Kuang will use nanofabrication techniques to etch ridges
that are about 1/1,000th the width of a single strand of hair on an underlying
layer of silicon. A nanoscale layer of metal is then deposited on the silicon
ridges to create a prism. When the device is illuminated from below, the metal
ridges diffract the light and focus it; scientists can then measure wavelengths
to identify and measure contaminants such as acetone or cleaning solvents.
Kuang joined Boise State’s College of Engineering faculty in fall 2005 after
earning a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Southern
California. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers and the Optical Society of America.
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Contact: Wan Kuang, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
(208) 426-1021, wankuang@boisestate.edu
Media Contact: Janelle Brown, University Communications, (208) 426-1790,
jbrown2@boisestate.edu
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Last reviewed on
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
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