A frequency stabilized tunable pulsed quantum cascade laser

Author

Taslakov, Marian ; Simeonov, Valentin ; Van Den Bergh, Hubert

Author_Institution

Inst. of Electron., Sofia

fYear

2008

fDate

19-21 May 2008

Firstpage

122

Lastpage

126

Abstract

We report on a method and circuits for frequency stabilization of a pulsed quantum cascade laser (QCL). The proposed method allows stabilizing the laserpsilas absolute frequency as well as its tuning range. Three different experimental layouts are tested. In all three layouts an absorption cell is used for absolute frequency reference. A Germanium Fabry-Perot etalon is used for tuning range stabilization. The distance between the first and last maxima of the interference fringes is used to produce a signal, which controls the tuning range of the laser. This signal is applied to the QCL pulse driver. The stabilities achieved of the absolute frequency (F₀) and sweeping range (DeltaF) are close to 30 MHz @ F₀=30 THz and DeltaF=40 GHz respectively. These stabilities are mainly limited by the discrimination time of 100 ps of our digital oscilloscope.

Keywords

Fabry-Perot interferometers; laser frequency stability; laser tuning; quantum cascade lasers; Germanium Fabry-Perot etalon; QCL pulse driver; absorption cell; frequency stabilization; interference fringes; tunable pulsed quantum cascade laser; Circuit optimization; Circuit testing; Frequency; Laser stability; Laser tuning; Optical pulses; Pulse circuits; Quantum cascade lasers; Quantum well lasers; Tunable circuits and devices;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frequency Control Symposium, 2008 IEEE International

Conference_Location

Honolulu, HI

ISSN

1075-6787

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-1794-0

Electronic_ISBN

1075-6787

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FREQ.2008.4622971

Filename

4622971