Optical Chemical Sensors

The book is the output of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Optical Chemical Sensors and is 40th Course of the International School of Quantum Electronics and covers all the aspects related to optical chemical sensing by means of optical waveguides, from the fundamentals to the most recent applications.The book also provides a view through the history of the development of these sensors, from the first laboratory prototypes up to the first commercial instrumentations, and contains also the lecture given by the Nobel Prize Charles Townes on the birth of maser and laser, which is to be considered a very important illustration on how new science and new technology develop.Thanks to the high level of the contributors, among the most renowned specialists in their respective fields, and to its high interdisciplinary content, the book is an essential tool not only for any scientist who is working or intend to start to work in the field of optical chemical sensing but also for anyone who wish to have a complete overview of the state of the art in the field. TOC:List of contributors.Preface. Directors's list of participants.Editorial. List of the ISQE courses. 1. Birth of the maser and laser- 2 Fiber optic chemical sensors and biosensors: a view back.- Fundamentals of optical chemical sensing. 3. Fundamentals of optoelectronics- 4. Optical fibres for optical sensing;- 5. Absorption-based sensors;.- 6. Fluorescence-based sensors.-7 Vibrational spectroscopic sensors 8. Chemiluminescence-based sensors;.- 9. Sensors based on spectroscopy of guided waves.- 10. Planar optical sensors and evanescent wave effects.- 11. Interferometry in bio and chemosensing.- l2. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy; 13 Planar waveguiding systems for optical sensing.- 14. Ultracompact optical sensors based on high index-contrast photonic structures; A. Driessen et al.- 15 Polymers in optical sensors.-16 Fundamentals of enzyme-based sensors.- 17. Sol-gels for optical sensors.- 18 Methods for attachment of antibodies onto optical biosensors.-Applications of optical chemical sensing . 19 The optical nose .-20 Invasive sensors in medicine .- 21 Biosensors for detection of bioterrorist threats.-22 Review of methods of optical gas detection by direct optical spectroscopy, with emphasis on correlation spectroscopy.- 23 DNA and protein sensor arrays.-24 Sensors for food safety and security .- 25 Optical chemical sensors for cultural heritage .-Index.