Large MOEMS diffraction grating results providing an EC-QCL wavelength scan of 20%

Grahmann, Jan; Merten, A.; Herrmann, Andreas; Ostendorf, R.; Bleh, D.; Drabe, Christian; Kamenz, Jörg

doi:10.1117/12.2079640

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The limitation was purely a result of (a) the maximum achievable speed of the galvanometer scanner mirror in our cavity design and (b) the 5 kHz maximum pulse repetition time of our QCL driver. Recently we became aware of work using a Littrow cavity EC-QCL based on a micro-opto-electro-mechanical system (MOEMS) diffraction grating that has achieved 1 kHz tuning rate (23). It is thus interesting to consider what factors might limit the maximum achievable tuning rate, especially considering that the SNR advantage of swept-laser OCT was originally demonstrated using a 300 Hz tuning rate and ushered in a series of technical innovations that have seen tuning rates reach 5 MHz (24).…”

Section: Potential Limits On Tuning Speedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity Advantage of QCL Tunable-Laser Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy Over FTIR Spectroscopy

Childs

Hogg

Revin

et al. 2015

Applied Spectroscopy Reviews

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Interest in mid-infrared spectroscopy instrumentation beyond classical FTIR using a thermal light source has increased dramatically in recent years. Synchrotron, supercontinuum, and external-cavity quantum cascade laser light sources are emerging as viable alternatives to the traditional thermal black-body emitter (Globar), especially for remote interrogation of samples ("stand-off" detection) and for hyperspectral imaging at diffraction-limited spatial resolution ("microspectroscopy"). It is thus timely to rigorously consider the relative merits of these different light sources for such applications. We study the theoretical maximum achievable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of FTIR using synchrotron or supercontinuum light vs. that of a tunable quantum cascade laser, by reinterpreting an important result that is well known in near-infrared optical coherence tomography imaging. We rigorously show that mid-infrared spectra can be acquired up to 1000 times fasterusing the same detected light intensity, the same detector noise level, and without loss of SNR-using the tunable quantum cascade laser as compared with the FTIR approach using synchrotron or supercontinuum light. We experimentally demonstrate the effect using a novel, rapidly tunable quantum cascade laser that acquires spectra at rates of up to 400 per second. We also estimate the maximum potential spectral acquisition rate of our prototype system to be 100,000 per second.

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Section: Potential Limits On Tuning Speedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity Advantage of QCL Tunable-Laser Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy Over FTIR Spectroscopy

Childs

Hogg

Revin

et al. 2015

Applied Spectroscopy Reviews

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show abstract

“…It should be noted that dynamic deformation of the grating plate was controlled below 392 nm at 10 deflection to ensure its diffraction efficiency. This scanner architecture has been successfully demonstrated in various external-cavity quantum cascade lasers (EC-QCLs), [12][13][14] and the diffraction efficiency of such scanners was reported to be well above 90% for the target working spectrum range, mainly the…”

Section: Out-of-plane Mems Scanning Gratingsmentioning

confidence: 98%

MEMS gratings and their applications

Zhou

Lim

et al. 2021

International Journal of Optomechatronics

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Grating plays an essential role in various optical systems owing to its unique dispersion properties. In recent years, there is increasing demand to miniaturize optical systems for a wide range of field applications. Therefore, the integration of diffraction grating with MEMS technology provides an efficient way to build truly miniaturized optical systems. Till now, MEMS diffraction gratings have mainly been explored in two directions, namely MEMS scanning gratings and MEMS tunable gratings. MEMS scanning gratings are constructed with a variety of MEMS actuators to drive a grating platform to scan across the target, and they play a significant role in various scanning systems. Meanwhile, the dispersive properties of grating scanners make them attractive in wavelength sensing applications, including spectrometers and hyperspectral imaging systems. Tunable gratings typically employ MEMS actuators to dynamically change the diffraction properties, thus tuning its wavelength sensitivity for a specific application. Thus, this review will introduce these two types of MEMS gratings in detail and evaluate their efficiency and advantages in various fields.

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“…Details of the process have been described elsewhere. 4 For the device presented here, a trapezoidal grating with 240 l/mm and a maximum efficiency at 4.3 µm for TM-polarization was integrated. The MOEMS scanner is mounted on a 2 mm thick Si3N4-ceramic.…”

Section: Quasi-static Moems Ec-qclmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in MOEMS-Based External Cavity QCLs

Flores

Haertelt

Hugger

et al. 2019

2019 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe &Amp; European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

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The combination of broadly tunable quantum cascade laser chips in an external cavity (EC-QCL) with a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) scanner with integrated diffraction grating as wavelength-selective element allows for the development of extremely compact and robust spectroscopy systems. Resonant MOEMS grating scanners enable spectral tuning rates of hundreds of wavenumbers per millisecond and consequently broad-band spectroscopy with millisecond temporal resolution. Also non-resonant (quasistatic) MOEMS grating scanners are possible, providing scan rates of tens of Hz as well as static setting of arbitrary wavelengths, as common for mechanically driven EC lasers, while keeping the small MOEMS footprint, ruggedness, and low power consumption. Here, we give a progress report on the latest developments on MOEMS-based EC-QCLs made by Fraunhofer IAF and IPMS. We will highlight two of our latest developments: A non-resonant MOEMS EC-QCL version that allows arbitrary scan frequencies up to few ten Hertz, as well as static operation. Furthermore, we present the application of a resonantly driven cw-MOEMS-EC-QCL with cavity-length control to enable fast high-resolution spectroscopy over a spectral range of >100 cm -1 , offering new possibilities for spectroscopy on complex gas mixtures.

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Large MOEMS diffraction grating results providing an EC-QCL wavelength scan of 20%

Cited by 9 publications

References 4 publications

Sensitivity Advantage of QCL Tunable-Laser Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy Over FTIR Spectroscopy

Sensitivity Advantage of QCL Tunable-Laser Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy Over FTIR Spectroscopy

MEMS gratings and their applications

Advances in MOEMS-Based External Cavity QCLs

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