Megahertz repetition rate fiber lasers at 1.5 μm of wavelength have reached technological maturity and robustness that permits their integration into tablet-size self-starting devices with battery operation capabilities. When subsequently amplified by an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), optical pulses with sub-20-fs durations and nanojoule energies can be obtained via in-fiber self-phase modulation and dispersive compression. While such sources are of relevance for many fields ranging from material processing to nonlinear microscopy, optical sensing offers more advantages at longer wavelengths. In our work, we explore the feasibility of frequency conversion of telecommunication-wavelength optical pulses using new organic nonlinear optical crystals in the nanojoule pulse energy regime for spectroscopy. In particular, we study the broadband terahertz (THz) emission and detection capabilities of PNPA ((E)-4-((4- nitrobenzylidene)amino)-N-phenyl-aniline) compared with DSTMS (4-N,N-dimethylamino-4'-N'-methyl-stilbazolium 2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfonate). Not only can the crystals be used for room-temperature broadband THz generation, but also detection via the optical Pockels effect – a linear change of the refractive index in the presence of an external electric field. This in turn lifts the requirement for cooled infrared detectors because a conventional uncooled InGaAs photodiode for near-infrared wavelengths can be used instead to detect far-infrared waveforms. Currently, we obtain a spectroscopic coverage of 2–25 THz but future improvements in application-tailored organic crystals should offer even broader optical bandwidths.
FTIR spectroscopy holds significant untapped potential for materials analysis and laser characterization, but new developments are limited by the availability of simple, universal, and scalable components. Addressing this challenge, pyroelectric receivers PR No1 IR and PR No2 IR, and detectors ALUT3151 with sub-pixel binning and Diff ALUT3151 with additional true differential output have been developed. All models are based on thin LiTaO3, cover a wide wavelength range, do not require cooling, and operate at high Detectivity (D*) in the kHz range while being rugged and linear over four orders of IR flux magnitude. In this paper, we will focus on recent results towards a people´s-FTIR with reduced TTWS (Time Towards Working Setup). Besides the detector, the thermal source and the beamsplitter have been identified as critical components.
Frequency combs based on mid-infrared cascade lasers have been studied both experimentally and theoretically in recent years. So far only FM combs with quasi-cw output have been reported for interband cascade lasers (ICLs). We discuss the parameters that need to be achieved to realize passive mode locking in ICLs. The results are obtained from a comprehensive numerical model based on the wavevector-resolved Bloch equations coupled to the one-dimensional wave equation. We find that the design of the saturable absorber, in particular the carrier extraction time and length, is very important, while passive mode locking should already be achievable for the experimentally demonstrated values of group velocity dispersion. The leakage into the high-index GaSb substrate should also be controlled via the waveguide design.
Mid-infrared semiconductor lasers have emerged as indispensable compact coherent sources for military and commercial applications. While much of the historical emphasis has been on maximizing the output power and/or spectral purity, a recent new focus has been on engineering these lasers to operate as optical frequency combs (OFCs) for broadband real-time spectroscopy. In particular, the combination of low-drive-power and broad gain bandwidth has made interband cascade laser (ICL) OFCs an attractive complement to quantum cascade laser OFCs operating at longer wavelengths. Moreover, ICL combs can potentially be incorporated into fully-integrated dual-comb spectrometers that employ fast, room-temperature IC photodetectors processed on the same chip. However, the high refractive index of the ICL’s GaSb substrate poses some challenges to the optical waveguiding. Because the modal index is considerably lower than that of the substrate, the optical field can penetrate the bottom cladding layer and leak into the GaSb, inducing wavelength-dependent interference that modifies the gain and group velocity dispersion (GVD) profiles. Even when the effect on lasing threshold is small, the comb properties can be adversely affected. Using the sub-threshold Fourier transform technique, we studied ICL combs with various ridge widths, substrate thicknesses, and center wavelengths. This allowed us to evaluate the effects of modal leakage on the GVD. We find that the resonant nature of the substrate modes induces oscillations, which affect both the spectral bandwidth and the phase-locking properties above threshold. Strategies to mitigate the GVD’s undesired and unpredictable spectral variation will be presented.
By exploiting the bi-functional operation capability of interband cascade laser (ICL) frequency combs, we have utilized the laser medium not only for comb generation, but also as a room-temperature photodetector with near-GHz bandwidth for multi-heterodyne beating of the comb lines. Our self-contained platform consuming less than 2 W of electrical power enables free-running room-temperature broadband dual-comb spectroscopy of 1,1 difluoroethane with ~3% standard deviation in 2 ms over 600 GHz of optical bandwidth around 3.6 µm. We will discuss progress toward the optimization of ICL combs for realizing compact, low-power chemical sensors operating in the MWIR.
Optical frequency combs have revolutionized the field of high resolution real-time molecular spectroscopy. Here, we demonstrate an electrically-driven optical frequency comb whose sub-picosecond pulses span more than 1 THz of spectral bandwidth centered near 3.3 mm. This is achieved by passively mode locking an interband cascade laser in a multi-contact architecture with gain and saturable absorber sections monolithically integrated on the same chip.
KEYWORDS: Spectroscopy, Signal to noise ratio, Quantum cascade lasers, Absorption, Methane, Spectral resolution, Optical engineering, Signal detection, Digital filtering, Sensors
While midinfrared radiation can be used to identify and quantify numerous chemical species, contemporary broadband midinfrared spectroscopic systems are often hindered by large footprints, moving parts, and high power consumption. In this work, we demonstrate multiheterodyne spectroscopy (MHS) using interband cascade lasers, which combines broadband spectral coverage with high spectral resolution and energy-efficient operation. The lasers generate up to 30 mW of continuous-wave optical power while consuming <0.5 W of electrical power. A computational phase and timing correction algorithm is used to obtain kHz linewidths of the multiheterodyne beat notes and up to 30 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio. The versatility of the multiheterodyne technique is demonstrated by performing both rapidly swept absorption and dispersion spectroscopic assessments of low-pressure ethylene (C2H4) acquired by extracting a single beat note from the multiheterodyne signal, as well as broadband MHS of methane (CH4) acquired with all available beat notes with microsecond temporal resolution and an instantaneous optical bandwidth of ∼240 GHz. The technology shows excellent potential for portable and high-resolution solid-state spectroscopic chemical sensors operating in the midinfrared.
Majority of chemical species of interest in security and safety applications (e.g. explosives) have complex molecular structures that produce unresolved rotational-vibrational spectroscopic signatures in the mid-infrared. This requires spectroscopic techniques that can provide broadband coverage in the mid-IR region to target broadband absorbers and high resolution to address small molecules that exhibit well-resolved spectral lines. On the other hand, many broadband mid-IR absorbers exhibit well-resolved rotational components in the THz spectral region. Thus, development of spectroscopic sensing technologies that can address both spectral regions is of great importance. Here we demonstrate recent progress towards broadband high-resolution spectroscopic sensing applications with Fabry-Perot quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) and frequency combs using multi-heterodyne spectroscopy (MHS) techniques.
In this paper, we will present spectroscopic sensing of large and small molecules in the mid-IR region using QCLs operating at ~8.5µm. An example high-resolution, broadband MHS of ammonia (small molecule) and isobutane (broadband absorber) at atmospheric pressure in the 1165-1190 cm^-1 range will be discussed. We have developed a balanced MHS system for mitigation of the laser intensity fluctuations. Absorption spectroscopy as well as dispersion spectroscopy with minimum fractional absorption down to ~10^-4/Hz1/2 and fast spectral acquisition capabilities down to 10 µs/spectrum range will be demonstrated. In order to mitigate the shortcomings of the limited chemical selectivity in the mid-IR, THz QCL based spectrometer is currently under development to provide spectral de-congestion and thus significantly improve chemical identification. Preliminary characterization of the performance of THZ QCL combs for the THz QCL-MHS will be presented.
Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) have proven to be efficient semiconductor sources of coherent mid -infrared (mid-IR) radiation. Single mode distributed-feedback (DFB) ICLs are excellent high-resolution spectroscopic sources for targeting important molecular species in the mid-IR fingerprint region, but are limited to a narrow spectral tuning range. Recent developments in multi-heterodyne spectroscopy with multi-mode Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers have enabled significant progress towards broadband high-resolution spectroscopic sensing applications in the mid-infrared. Here, we characterize the mode structure and tuning properties of multi-mode FP-ICLs for the purpose of evaluating the feasibility of ICL-based multiheterodyne spectroscopy.
We present a simple and cost-effective method for the fabrication of optical elements in the terahertz regime. Caramelized sucrose is used as the refractive medium in the frequency range from 0.1 to 0.4 THz. The absorption coefficient of 7 cm−1 and the high index of refraction of 2.45 at 0.3 THz enables the fabrication of thin optical elements in the near-millimeter wavelength range. The THz beam profiles of the fabricated parabolic lens in focus, evaluated with terahertz pulsed imaging, show the near diffraction limit performance.
In this paper we report a new approach to linking the terahertz spectral shapes of drug candidates having a similar molecular structure to their chemical and physical parameters. We examined 27 newly-synthesized derivatives of a well-known nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Piroxicam used for treatment of inflammatory arthritis and chemoprevention of colon cancer. The testing was carried out by means of terahertz pulsed spectroscopy (TPS). Using chemometric techniques we evaluated their spectral similarity in the terahertz range and attempted to link the position on the principal component analysis (PCA) score map to the similarity of molecular descriptors. A simplified spectral model preserved 75% and 85.1% of the variance in 2 and 3 dimensions respectively, compared to the input 1137. We have found that in 85% of the investigated samples a similarity of the physical and chemical parameters corresponds to a similarity in the terahertz spectra. The effects of data preprocessing on the generated maps are also discussed. The technique presented can support the choice of the most promising drug candidates for clinical trials in pharmacological research.
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