Portable Quantum Cascade Laser for Chemical Sensing Applications
- Technology Benefits
- Singlechip laser arrayBeamcombiner provides single aperture outputVeryrobust with no moving parts in the laser or laser beam pathRapidturning rateVeryfine control of the laser output wavelengthCompact,stand-alone, and portable
- Detailed Technology Description
- A rapid tunable QCL laserwith no moving parts for spectroscopy#semiconductor #component#sensor #chemical
- *Abstract
-
Many chemicals have signature absorption spectra inthe mid-infrared (IR) wavelength range. Forchemical-sensing based applications, including medical diagnostics, explosivedetection and industrial process monitoring, a portable laser emitting in awide wavelength range is highly desired. Among semiconductor laser sources, quantumcascade lasers (QCLs) have increasingly exhibited strength in the mid-IRwavelength range, due to the developments in power, wall-plug efficiency, andsingle mode operation. In particular,the broadband QCL has demonstrated a gain bandwidth of 5.9–10.9 μm, highlightingits incredible potential for mid-IR spectroscopy. However, fine tuning the wavelength of lasershas often relied on external cavity feedback or exhibited a limited monolithictuning range. Northwestern researchershave developed a widely tunable QCL source over the 6.2 to 9.1 μm wavelengthrange. This compact tunable laser system was built to drive individual laserswithin the array and produce any desired wavelength within the availablespectral range. For example, a rapid,broadband spectral measurement (520 cm−1) of methane using thetunable laser source shows excellent consistency with a measurement made usinga standard low-speed infrared spectrometer. This monolithic, widely tunablelaser technology is portable with no moving parts and opens new opportunitiesfor mid-IR spectroscopy and chemical sensing.
Figure 1.Prototype of the tunable laser system with GPIB transceiver and power supply.
- *Inventors
- Manijeh Razeghi*
- *Publications
- Zhou W, Bandyopadhyay N, Wu D, McClintock R, Razeghi M(2016) Monolithically, widely tunable quantum cascade lasers based on aheterogeneous active region design. Scientific Reports. 6: 25213.
- Country/Region
- USA
