Mangaluru: ‘Center of Excellence in Nano-science and Technology (CENT)’ of Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management (SCEM) has received a prestigious Department of Science and Technology-Science and Engineering Research Board-Extra Mural Research (DST-SERB-EMR) project fund of Rs 55.89 lakhs for the project “Design, Fabrication and Characterization of Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) resonators in Planar Waveguides for Detection of Bio- Molecules Using Terahertz Radiation”. Recently DST-SERB-EMR has released Rs. 37.5 Lakhs to setup THz based bio-molecular detection laboratory at CENT-SCEM.
This project was submitted under the guidance of Prof. Richard Pinto, Director-CENT. Prof. Richard Pinto told that this is a collaborative project between CENT-SCEM, TIFR-FOTON Group and EE Dept. of IITB. The project aims to develop integrated low loss THz waveguides and WGM resonators with high Q factors suitable for detector applications in the area of biosensors / biophotonics. THz based sensors are among the latest developments in single molecular detection in the area of bio-medical engineering and detection of explosives. Among the many possible applications of these sensors early detection of cancer (molecular level) is one.
The eminent scientists Prof. Shriganesh Prabhu and Prof. Achanta Venu Gopal, TIFR FOTON group are involved in this project. They are the leading experts in the field of plasmonics. The Fundamental Optics, Terahertz and Optical Nanostructures (FOTON) group at Department of condensed matter physics & Material Science, TIFR has made significant contributions in the terahertz domain during last decade. Prof. Siddhartha Duttgupta, EE Department, IITB is another collaborator of this project. He has expertise in tools for processing, characterization and computation as part of the IIT Bombay Nano Fabrication Facility (IITB-NF). He also has expertise in the applications of simulation softwares and in process tools such as, nano- structure generation set-up.
The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) under Department of Science & Technology (DST), is a statutory body established through an Act of Parliament viz. the Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008. The board funds basic and applied research in emerging areas of Science & Engineering based on the novelty of the proposal.
