Jérôme Faist - Quantum cascade lasers comb spectrometers

Prof Jérôme Faist, Quantum Optoelectronics Group, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Abstract:

The quantum cascade laser has demonstrated operation over an extremely wide wavelength range extending from the mid-infrared at 2.9 μm to the Terahertz at 360 μm. One very important feature of this device is its ability to provide gain over a very broad wavelength range. Recently, we have shown that such broadband devices, when operated in continuous wave, emit as a coherent optical comb [1] in which the phase relation between the comb modes corresponds approximately to a FM modulated laser. These new comb lasers enables the fabrication of a dual comb spectrometer based on a quantum cascade laser that offers a broadband, all solid-state spectrometer with no moving parts and a ultrafast acquisition time.  We discuss also the extension of these ideas to the THz. 

[1] A. Hugi, G. Villares, S. Blaser, H. C. Liu and J. Faist, Nature 492 (7428), 229-233 (2012).

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