“The goal is to develop a completely new generation of sensors that are more powerful and less expensive than the electrical sensors of the past century.”
Jacques Albert uses optical fibers in sensing and biosensing to increase efficiencies and lowering costs in current models of sensors or to replace them. His interdisciplinary approach has Albert collaborating with chemists, mechanical and environmental engineers to help find solutions to their problems using optical fiber sensors. One fiber optic device that Albert has created called the, Tilted Fiber Bragg Grating (TFBG) at Carleton is now being used at universities around the world and he is working with companies to develop products based on the patented design. Another use of TFBGs that Albert’s group has created is a cancer therapy tool whereby doctors can insert one of his fiber optic devices inside a tumor to kill it using laser-generated heat that raises the local temperature by just the right amount not to harm the surrounding tissue. A major biochemical tool that is used widely by pharmaceutical companies is the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) detector, but it has a hefty price tag approaching $1 million. Albert and his team have created an SPR instrument that costs 20 times less using fiber optic technology! They further demonstrated recently that it can also be used to ensure the safety and condition of the large batteries used in electrical vehicles, while the batteries are in use. His pioneering work in photonic components has been used in biological, chemical and structural sensing applications.
To view Jacques Albert’s full profile, click here.