(January 7, 2016) High power and rapid tuning for the detection
of hazardous chemicals
From their use in telecommunication to detecting hazardous
chemicals, lasers play a major role in our everyday lives. They keep us
connected, keep us safe, and allow us to explore the dark corners of the
universe.
Now a Northwestern Engineering team has made this
ever-important tool even simpler and more versatile by integrating a
mid-infrared tunable laser with an on-chip amplifier. This breakthrough allows
adjustable wavelength output, modulators, and amplifiers to be held inside a
single package.
With this architecture, the laser has demonstrated an
order-of-magnitude more output power than its predecessors, and the tuning
range has been enhanced by more than a factor of two.
“We have always been leaders in high-power and
high-efficiency lasers,” said Manijeh Razeghi, Walter P. Murphy Professor of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who led the study. “Combining an
electrically tunable wavelength with high power output was the next logical
extension.”