Christina Grace Charlet C

christina

Academic Record

B.Tech (2005 - 2009)
Instrumentation and Control Engineering
National Institute of Technology

Ph.D (2012 - present)
Dept. of Applied Mechanics
Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Work Experience

Engineer (Instrumentation) July 2009 - Nov 2011
Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Limited

Research Interests

  • Plasmonics
  • Fiber Optic Sensing
  • Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Spectroscopy
  • Thin film coatings for sensing applications
  • Modeling of light propagation

Current Work:

I have been working on realizing plasmonic fiber optic probes which is used as a platform for minute refractive index measurements. These probes then find application in various fields, including chemical and biosensing. Instead of the conventional nanoparticle immobilization approach, I work on developing plasmonic surface through sputtering, which is a physical vapor deposition method. The interesting part of this work is optimizing the fabrication parameters such that, the detection scheme could be based on intensity or wavelength interrogation, as per the application requirement. These probes could also be used for SERS based sensing.
I also work on integration of U-bent optical fiber sensor with microfluidics for continuous monitoring or large volume analysis. I have developed a inexpensive, simple PMMA based microfabrication and bonding protocol for device development. Using these PMMA microdevices, flow based experiments could be performed and several insights on influence of flow rate, channel design and analyte diffusion time scales could be studied.
The last and personally the most favorite research work I am able to carry out during PhD, is the theoretical investigation of light propagation in acutely U-bent optical fibers for sensing applications. I use ray tracing approach for the above investigations.
I have also been working in a project involving development of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrates for environmental monitoring.Our research focusses on attempting a commercially viable SERS substrate development through plasmonic film / nanoparticle based substrates for a portable instrument setup.

Journal publication

Christina Christopher, A. Subrahmanyam, V. V. R. Sai (2017), “ Gold Sputtered U-Bent Plastic Optical Fiber Probes as SPR- and LSPR-Based Compact Plasmonic Sensors”, Plasmonics (2017) Available online, doi: 10.1007/s11468-017-0535-z

Conference Publication

Christina Grace Charlet Christopher , Hariharan Manoharan, A Subrahmanyam, VVR Sai (2016),
Raman imaging of biofilms using gold sputtered fiber optic probes SPIE Biophotonics Australasia, Adelaide, Australia, 16-19 Oct 2016. doi: 10.1117/12.2242973

Christina Christopher, Priyanka Vasanthakumari, Gowri Annasamy, A Subrahmanyam, VVR Sai (2016),
SERS based Sandwich Immunosensing with Plasmonically Active Plastic Optical Fiber Sensor Probes, Optical Sensors, Optical Society of America (OSA), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 18-20 July 2016. doi: 10.1364/SENSORS.2016.SeW3E.7

Christina Grace Charlet Christopher, A Subrahmanyam, VVR Sai (2016),
Comparison of SERS activity of sputtered, electroless-plated and nanoparticle-coated plastic fiber optic probes, IEEE Workshop on Recent Advances in Photonics (WRAP 2015), IISc, Bangaluru, India, 16,17 Dec 2015. doi: 10.1109/WRAP.2015.7805961

Conferences Attended

SPIE Biophotonics Australasia, Adelaide, Australia(16-19 Oct 2016)
Paper title (First-author): Gold sputtered fiber optic probes as SERS sensors for study of bacterial biofilms

Optical Sensors, Optical Society of America (OSA), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada(18-20 July 2016)
Paper title (Presenter & First-author): SERS based Sandwich Immunosensing with Plasmonically Active Plastic Optical Fiber Sensor Probes

IEEE Workshop on Recent Advances in Photonics (WRAP 2015), IISc, Bangaluru, India (16,17 Dec 2015)
Poster Title:Comparison of SERS activity of sputtered, electroless-plated and nanoparticle-coated plastic fiber optic probes

Summer Institute 2015 held by IC-IMPACTS (Canada India Research Center for Excellence) on Optical sensing technologies
in University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (15-19 June 2015)
E-Poster title: Gold sputtered U-bent optical fiber for refractive index measurement (Secured best poster award)

2nd Indian National Conference on Applied Mechanics - INCAM 2015 at IIT Delhi (13-15 July 2015)
Poster Title:Transverse load sensing using U-bent Polymer optical fiber

Email:

ChristinaChristopher@gmail.com

Website:

https://christinachristoph7.wixsite.com/christinadanny