Multi-gas sensing with quantum cascade laser array in the mid-infrared region

Bizet, Laurent; Vallon, R.; Parvitte, B.; Brun, M.; Maisons, G.; Carras, Mathieu; Zéninari, V.

doi:10.1007/s00340-017-6716-9

Cited by 31 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…These arrays attract great interest for gas sensing applications [20]. However, 2-4 μm range DFB laser arrays and further integrating the arrays on a PIC still need to be demonstrated.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Broad wavelength coverage 23 μm III-V-on-silicon DFB laser array

Wang¹,

Sprengel²,

Boehm³

et al. 2017

Optica

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Silicon photonics is a promising integrated-optics platform for optical communication and sensing applications. Integrating 2-3 μm wavelength widely tunable lasers on silicon photonic integrated circuits enables fully integrated spectroscopic sensors with different potential applications such as multi-species trace gas spectroscopy and bio-molecule detection. Here, we demonstrate a continuous-wave (CW) operated III-V-on-silicon distributed feedback (DFB) laser array covered a broad wavelength range from 2.28 to 2.43 μm. CW operation up to 25°C and an on-chip output power of 2.7 mW in a single mode at 5°C is achieved for lasers operating at 2.35 μm wavelength. Four-channel DFB laser arrays with a continuous tuning range of 10 nm and side mode suppression ratio of 40 dB over the whole range are also presented. This work is a major advance toward chip-scale silicon photonics spectroscopic sensing systems. Gas sensing based on short-wave infrared and mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy has been proven to be a reliable technology for trace-gas measurements with fast response time and a high degree of specificity to the target gas [1,2]. However, most present optical sensors consist of discrete optical components and a bulk gas cell, which limits their viability for applications in portable and economical gas analysis. Integrated photonics platforms offer the potential to realize miniature and low-cost optical gas sensors [3][4][5][6]. As one of the most promising integrated photonics platforms, silicon photonics has been well-developed for optical communication applications during the past decade [7]. In recent years, its applications have been extended to sensing applications, including on-chip spectroscopic sensing [8]. Silicon photonics gas sensors that target different components have been demonstrated, including those that use, e.g., microring resonators [9,10] or spiral waveguides [11] to interact with the gas medium. In these gas sensors, the light from an external laser source is coupled into the silicon chip for the on-chip absorption spectroscopy measurement. The development of fully integrated silicon photonic integrated circuits (PICs) in the 2.3 μm wavelength range enable compact gas sensors with high sensitivity, since many important industrial gases (e.g., NH 3 , CO, and CH 4 ) have strong absorption lines in this wavelength range [12]. It is also valuable for bio-sensing applications, such as non-invasive blood glucose measurements [8,13]. For a compact silicon photonics spectroscopic gas sensor, an integrated and tunable single-mode laser is the key component that should be developed. Recently, heterogeneously integrated III-V-on-silicon Fabry-Perot lasers around 2 μm were realized using strained InGaAs Type I heterostructures [14]. However, the emission wavelength range of laser sources based on the InP-based Type I material is limited to around 2.3 μm [15]. Recently, we demonstrated 2.3x μm heterogeneous III-Von-silicon distributed feedback (DFB) laser sources based on an InP-based Type II heteros...

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“…These arrays attract great interest for gas sensing applications [20]. However, 2-4 μm range DFB laser arrays and further integrating the arrays on a PIC still need to be demonstrated.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Broad wavelength coverage 23 μm III-V-on-silicon DFB laser array

Wang¹,

Sprengel²,

Boehm³

et al. 2017

Optica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For the realization of a demonstrator that could measure the same spectra within seconds other broadly tunable laser sources are required. Recent publications demonstrated the successful test of quantum cascade laser arrays [44,45] in spectroscopic measurements. These results revealed the capability of sensing several gases but at other wavelengths than we targeted for our measurements.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High resolution quantitative multi-species hydrocarbon gas sensing with a cw external cavity quantum cascade laser based spectrometer in the 6–11 μm range

Heinrich

Popescu

Strzoda

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Physics

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We report multi-species spectroscopy of hydrocarbons with a continuous wave external-cavity quantum cascade laser (EC-QCL) based spectrometer providing tunability from 6-11 µm to measure direct absorption spectra of the first 7 alkanes and their mixtures. The gas spectra where acquired in the range from 1440-1480 cm -1 at reduced pressure of 50 mbar and at a temperature of 323 K. By linearization of the measured wavelengths with a custom-made highly temperature stable air spaced etalon high spectral accuracy of ±0.001 cm -1 is achieved for the whole spectral range. The simultaneous high resolution of 0.001 cm -1 yields spectra of unprecedented richness of detail for the heavier alkanes (C3 − C5) and allows the discrimination of narrow spectral features for the lighter ones (C1 − C2). Thereby, the measured spectra reveal the influences of collisional broadening effects among the measured species. Quantitative spectroscopic multi-species gas sensing relies on the comprehension of the extent of spectral broadening. Studying the spectral broadening in combination with highly accurate reference spectra is mandatory for highly sensitive and specific multi-species gas analyzers. The quantitative results that can be obtained with our approach are presented for an exemplary calibrated mixture of all 7 components and reveals an absolute accuracy below 0.5 vol% for the determination of the mole fraction of each gas.

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“…For the DFB laser array, the light emitted from different lasers should be combined to a single waveguide for applications in multi-species trace gas spectroscopy [34]. In the telecommunication wavelength range, many types of beam combiners have been developed in integrated optics for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical communications, such as multimode interference (MMI) couplers and funnel combiners [35].…”

Section: Combined Iii-v-on-silicon Dfb Laser Arraymentioning

confidence: 99%

Widely Tunable III–V/Silicon Lasers for Spectroscopy in the Short-Wave Infrared

Wang¹,

Haq

Sprengel

et al. 2019

IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron.

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Silicon photonics can provide ultra-compact and high-performance building blocks for integrated laser sources, such as micro-ring resonators, beam combiners and gratings. Integrating III-V gain material with silicon photonic integrated circuits enables the realization of advanced laser sources and fully integrated photonics systems for optical communication and sensing applications. The availability of III-V/silicon laser sources operating in the 2-2.5 µm shortwave infrared (SWIR) wavelength range is very valuable for spectroscopic sensing since many important industrial gases and blood glucose have absorption bands in this wavelength range. In this paper, first we present our latest results on heterogeneously integrated III-V-on-silicon distributed feedback (DFB) laser arrays. A III-V-on-silicon DFB laser array covering the 2.27-2.39 µm wavelength range with 6 nm wavelength spacing is reported. This DFB laser array is employed as the light source for tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy of different gases. A four-channel DFB laser array integrated with a beam combiner is used to perform spectroscopic sensing over a 7nm spectral range without mode hopping at room temperature. Finally, we present our recent advances in widely tunable Vernier lasers based on heterogeneous integration and butt-coupling of the gain section. Continuous tuning near the absorption lines by thermally adjusting the laser cavity length enable highresolution TDLAS measurements together with wide wavelength coverage.

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Multi-gas sensing with quantum cascade laser array in the mid-infrared region

Cited by 31 publications

References 12 publications

Broad wavelength coverage 23 μm III-V-on-silicon DFB laser array

Broad wavelength coverage 23 μm III-V-on-silicon DFB laser array

High resolution quantitative multi-species hydrocarbon gas sensing with a cw external cavity quantum cascade laser based spectrometer in the 6–11 μm range

Widely Tunable III–V/Silicon Lasers for Spectroscopy in the Short-Wave Infrared

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