Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Drug or duplicate?

The technology behind the innovation is called backscattering spectroscopy. It exploits the fact that every chemical substance absorbs an individual amount of infrared light. »If we irradiate a substance with a specific light source, we receive a very characteristic backscattering signal« describes Dr. Ralf Ostendorf, head of the Business Unit »Semiconductor Lasers« at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF in Freiburg.

Miniaturized wavelength tunable μEC-QCL with emission wavelengths in the mid-infrared range and a high scanning frequency up to 1 kHz.

Photo: © Fraunhofer IAF

The mid-infrared spectrum (MIR) is particularly well-suited for an unambiguous identification of substances. Within this spectrum, light has a wavelength of three to 12 micrometers. If molecules are irradiated with this light, they show a characteristic absorption behavior which the QCL measuring system picks up on.

In only a few milliseconds the QCL can be adjusted to individual absorption lines that lie within a broad spectral band. This means that a great deal of information about a substance’s absorption behavior can be detected in a very short time.

»Very precise conclusions are available due to the laser’s high spectral brilliance and the fast wavelength tuning - similar to a human fingerprint« explains Ostendorf. The developed QCL consequently manages to detect even the smallest amounts of a particular substance in real time, which is a significant improvement compared to previous systems.

A mobile measuring system for in-line process monitoring

The miniaturized quantum cascade lasers are being developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer IAF together with colleagues from the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS in Dresden. Fraunhofer IAF is working on the laser chips while Fraunhofer IPMS is responsible for an integrated MOEMS scanning grating. The MOEMS scanner allows continuous tuning of the wavelength and thus allows a very fast signal response.

Currently, the project team is making the lasers fit for application in the pharmaceutical industry. The researchers have already used their method to reliably determine the active ingredients of everyday pills for headaches and fever in a laboratory environment. Future application scenarios foresee the technology in the mass production of pharmaceuticals as a real-time control. Already during the production process defective medical preparations could be sorted out.

»Not only is it possible to quickly sort out faulty margins, but also to reliably detect drug plagiarism. A time-consuming and expensive manual control in the laboratory would be obsolete« Ostendorf sums up the added value.

The method was first used in security technology: In the EU project »CHEQUERS«, Fraunhofer IAF developed a portable detector based on quantum cascade lasers which can detect explosive or toxic substances from a safe distance. The Freiburg researchers are currently contacting industry partners in order to further develop their approach. Ostendorf outlines future challenges: »Initial talks have already taken place. In a next step, we want to use our sensors to detect individual substances in a drug mixture«.

Weitere Informationen:

https://www.iaf.fraunhofer.de/en/events/analytica_2018.html (Fraunhofer IAF at Analytica 2018)
https://www.iaf.fraunhofer.de/en/research/optoelectronic-devices.html (Optoelectronic devices)
https://www.iaf.fraunhofer.de/en/offers/semiconductor-lasers/mirphab.html (Pilotline for photonic components »MirPhab«)
https://www.iaf.fraunhofer.de/en/offers/semiconductor-lasers.html (Semiconductor Lasers)

Laura Hau | Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Festkörperphysik IAF

Im Focus: The hidden structure of the periodic system

The well-known representation of chemical elements is just one example of how objects can be arranged and classified

The periodic table of elements that most chemistry books depict is only one special case. This tabular overview of the chemical elements, which goes back to...

Im Focus: MPSD team discovers light-induced ferroelectricity in strontium titanate

Light can be used not only to measure materials’ properties, but also to change them. Especially interesting are those cases in which the function of a material can be modified, such as its ability to conduct electricity or to store information in its magnetic state. A team led by Andrea Cavalleri from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg used terahertz frequency light pulses to transform a non-ferroelectric material into a ferroelectric one.

Ferroelectricity is a state in which the constituent lattice “looks” in one specific direction, forming a macroscopic electrical polarisation. The ability to...

Im Focus: Determining the Earth’s gravity field more accurately than ever before

Researchers at TU Graz calculate the most accurate gravity field determination of the Earth using 1.16 billion satellite measurements. This yields valuable knowledge for climate research.

The Earth’s gravity fluctuates from place to place. Geodesists use this phenomenon to observe geodynamic and climatological processes. Using...

Im Focus: Tube anemone has the largest animal mitochondrial genome ever sequenced

Discovery by Brazilian and US researchers could change the classification of two species, which appear more akin to jellyfish than was thought.

The tube anemone Isarachnanthus nocturnus is only 15 cm long but has the largest mitochondrial genome of any animal sequenced to date, with 80,923 base pairs....

Im Focus: Tiny light box opens new doors into the nanoworld

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have discovered a completely new way of capturing, amplifying and linking light to matter at the nanolevel. Using a tiny box, built from stacked atomically thin material, they have succeeded in creating a type of feedback loop in which light and matter become one. The discovery, which was recently published in Nature Nanotechnology, opens up new possibilities in the world of nanophotonics.

Photonics is concerned with various means of using light. Fibre-optic communication is an example of photonics, as is the technology behind photodetectors and...