Combining external cavity quantum cascade lasers and MOEMS technology: An approach for miniaturization and fast wavelength scanning

Author

Ambacher, Oliver ; Ostendorf, R. ; Bleh, D. ; Merten, A. ; Grahmann, J. ; Schmidt, R. ; Kunzer, Michael ; Hugger, S. ; Wagner, Jens

Author_Institution

Fraunhofer Inst. for Appl. Solid State Phys., Freiburg, Germany

fYear

2014

fDate

17-21 Aug. 2014

Firstpage

91

Lastpage

92

Abstract

In order to realize a spectrally broad band and rapid tunable spectrometer in the MIR (3-12 μm wavelength range), we aim for the combination of a quantum cascade laser with a micro-opto-electro-mechanical scanning grating. The scanning grating consists of a very small diffraction grating oscillating at its resonance frequency. It serves as wavelength selective feedback to rapidly tune the quantum cascade laser. Composed together, both parts build an external cavity laser in Littrow-configuration. Thanks to the compactness of the micro-opto-electro-mechanical system, portable and cost effective spectrometers can be realized.

Keywords

diffraction gratings; infrared spectrometers; integrated optics; laser cavity resonators; laser feedback; laser tuning; micro-optomechanical devices; optical scanners; quantum cascade lasers; Littrow-configuration; MIR spectrometer; MOEMS technology; diffraction grating; external cavity quantum cascade lasers; fast wavelength scanning; microoptoelectromechanical scanning grating; tunable spectrometer; wavelength 3 mum to 12 mum; wavelength selective feedback; Cavity resonators; Diffraction; Diffraction gratings; Gratings; Light sources; Optical feedback; Quantum cascade lasers;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN), 2014 International Conference on

Conference_Location

Glasgow

ISSN

2160-5033

Print_ISBN

978-0-9928-4140-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/OMN.2014.6924608

Filename

6924608