Rapid Detection of Accelerants in Fire Debris Using a Field Portable Mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Laser Based Analyzer

Arson presents a challenging crime scene for fire investigators worldwide. Key to the investigation of suspected arson cases is the analysis of fire debris for the presence of accelerants or ignitable liquids. This study has investigated the application and method development of vapor phase mid-Infrared (mid-IR) spectroscopy using a field portable quantum cascade laser (QCL) based system for the detection and identification of accelerant residues such as gasoline, diesel, and ethanol in fire debris. A searchable spectral library of various ignitable fluids and fuel components measured in the vapor phase was constructed that allowed for real-time identification of accelerants present in samples using software developed in-house. Measurement of vapors collected from paper material that had been doused with an accelerant followed by controlled burning and then extinguished with water showed that positive identification could be achieved for gasoline, diesel, and ethanol. This vapor phase mid-IR QCL method is rapid, easy to use, and has the sensitivity and discrimination capability that make it well suited for non-destructive crime scene sample analysis. Sampling and measurement can be performed in minutes with this 7.5 kg instrument. This vibrational spectroscopic method required no time-consuming sample pretreatment or complicated solvent extraction procedure. The results of this initial feasibility study demonstrate that this portable fire debris analyzer would greatly benefit arson investigators performing analysis on-site.

Low Power Consumption Distributed-Feedback Quantum Cascade Lasers Operating in Continuous-Wave Mode above 90℃ at λ～7.2μm

We report on the design and fabrication of λ-7.2μm distributed feedback quantum cascade lasers lot very high temperature cw operation and low electrical power consumption. The cw operation is reported above 90℃. For a 2-mm-long and 10-μm-wide laser coated with high-reflectivity on the rear facet, more than 170mW of output power is obtained at 20℃ with a threshold power consumption of 2.4 W, corresponding to 30mW with a threshold power consumption of 3.9 W at 90℃. Robust single-mode emission with a side-mode suppression ratio above 25 dB is continuously tunable by the heat sink temperature or injection current.

A Broadband Pulsed External-Cavity Quantum Cascade Laser Operating near 6.9μm

We report an external cavity quantum cascade laser （EC-QCL） operating near 6.9μm using the Littman Metcalf configuration. The EC-QCL works in a pulsed mode and can be tuned continuously from 1340 to 1640cm^-1 by only tilting the tuning mirror. The fine tuning ability of the EC-QCL is demonstrated by measuring the absorption spectrum of water in the ambient air with a lock-in amplifier.

Tunable characteristic of phase-locked quantum cascade laser arrays

A multimode interference(MMI)structure is designed to simplify the fabrication of quantum cascade laser(QCL)phase-locked arrays.The MMI geometry is optimized with a sufficient output channel distance to accommodate conventional photolithography and wet etching process by which power amplifier array is fabricated without using the complicated two-step etching-regrowth or dry etching technique.The far-field pattern with periodically modulated peaks reveals that the beams from the arrays are phase-locked.Furthermore,the frequency tuning performance of the MMI-based phase-locked arrays is studied using the Littrow-configuration external cavity structure.A wavelength tuning range of more than 60 cm^(−1) is demonstrated,which will eventually realize the high power,frequency tunable,large-scale phase-locked arrays,and their application in spectroscopy.

Single-Mode Fabry-Pérot Quantum Cascade Lasers at λ ~10.5 μm

In this paper, we report a single-mode Fabry-Pérot long wave infrared quantum cascade lasers based on the double phonon resonance active region design. For room temperature CW operation, the wafer with 35 stages was processed into buried heterostructure lasers. For a 4 mm long and 13 μm wide laser with high-reflectivity (HR) coating on the rear facet, continuous wave output power of 43 mW at 288 K and 5 mW at 303 K is obtained with threshold current densities of 2.17 and 2.7 kA/cm2. The lasing wavelength is around 10.5 μm. Single mode emission was observed for this particular device over the whole investigated current and temperature range.

Electron dynamics of active mode-locking terahertz quantum cascade laser

The pulse generation from active mode-locking terahertz quantum cascade laser is studied by Maxwell-Bloch equations.It is shown that longer dephasing time will lead to multiple pulses generation from the laser.The dependence of output field on modulation length and radio-frequency parameters is obtained.In order to achieve short pulse generation,the DC bias should close to threshold value and modulation length should be shorter than 0.256 mm.The output pulse is unstable and the envelope shows many oscillations in the presence of spatial hole burning,resulting destabilization of mode-locking.

Single-Mode Fabry-Pérot Quantum Cascade Lasers at λ~10.5 μm

In this paper, we report a single-mode Fabry-Pérot long wave infrared quantum cascade lasers based on the double phonon resonance active region design. For room temperature CW operation, the wafer with 35 stages was processed into buried heterostructure lasers. For a 4 mm long and 13 μm wide laser with high-reflectivity (HR) coating on the rear facet, continuous wave output power of 43 mW at 288 K and 5 mW at 303 K is obtained with threshold current densities of 2.17 and 2.7 kA/cm2. The lasing wavelength is around 10.5 μm. Single mode emission was observed for this particular device over the whole investigated current and temperature range.

Accuracy Improvement of Blood Glucose Measurement System Using Quantum Cascade Lasers

For non-invasive measurement of blood glucose levels, a measurement system based on mid-infrared, attenuated-total-reflection spectroscopy equipped with hollow optical fibers, a trapezoidal multi-reflection prism, and two fixed-wavelength quantum cascade lasers emitting different wavelengths is proposed. From the absorption spectra of lip mucosa measured by Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry, two wavelengths, 1152 cm-1 for absorption by glucose and 1186 cm-1 for the background, were chosen. To reduce measurement errors, the power distribution on the prism surface was investigated, and it was found that some high-intensity spots appear on the prism surface due to the coherency of the laser beam. This inhomogeneous power distribution causes measurement errors for slight movements of the lip mucosa. To homogenize the intensity distribution on the prism, a lens to excite higher modes in the fiber was introduced, and the incident angle was changed to suppress interference due to back-reflected light. These improvements increased the measurement stability, and in-vivo experiments demonstrated that the measured optical absorption correlates well with blood glucose levels.

External Cavity Tuning of Coherent Quantum Cascade Laser Array Emitting at^7.6μm

An external cavity quantum cascade laser （QCL） array with a wide tuning range and high output power is pre- sented. The coherent QCL array combined with a diffraction grating and gold mirror is tuned in the Littrow configuration. Taking advantage of the single-lobed fundamental supermode far-field pattern, the tuning capa- bility of 30.6cm-1 is achieved with a fixed injected current of 3.5 A at room temperature. Single-mode emission can be observed in the entire process. The maximum single-mode output power of the external cavity setup is as high as 25mW and is essential in real applications.

Development of Surface Grating Distributed Feedback Quantum Cascade Laser for High Output Power and Low Threshold Current Density

We report on the room-temperature cascade laser （QCL） at λ -4.7μm. cw operation of a surface grating Both grating design and material distributed feedback （DFB） quantum optimization are used to decrease the threshold current density and to increase the output power. For a high-reflectivity-coated 13-μm-wide and 4- mm-long laser, high wall-plug efficiency of 6% is obtained at 20℃ from a single facet producing over I W of ew output power. The threshold current density of DFB QCL is as low as 1.13kA/cm^2 at 10℃ and 1.34kA/cm2 at 30℃ in cw mode. Stable single-mode emission with a side-mode suppression ratio of about 30 dB is observed in tile working temperature range of 20-50℃.

Spectroscopy system based on a single quantum cascade laser for simultaneous detection of CO and CO_2

A quantum cascade laser（QCL） based system for simultaneous detection of CO and CO_2 is developed.The QCL can scan over two neighboring CO（2055.40 cm^（-1）） and CO_2（2055.16 cm^（-1）） lines with a single current scan.The wavelength modulation spectroscopy（ f = 20 k Hz） is utilized to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio.A white cell with an effective optical path length of 74 m is used.The calibration of the sensor is performed and minimum detection limits of 1.3 ppb（1 × 10^（-9））for CO and 0.44 ppm（1 × 10^（-6）） for CO_2 are achieved.

Room-temperature continuous-wave interband cascade laser emitting at 3.45 μm

We report a type-Ⅱ GaSb-based interband cascade laser operating a continuous wave at room temperature. The cascade region of interband cascade laser was designed using the ‘W’ configuration of the active quantum wells and the ‘Carrier Rebalancing’ method in the electron injector. The devices were processed into narrow ridges and mounted epitaxial side down on a copper heat sink. The 25-μm-wide, 3-mm-long ridge without coated facets generated 41.4 mW of continuous wave output power at T = 15℃. And a low threshold current density of 267 A/cm;is achieved. The emission wavelength of the ICL is 3452.3 nm at 0.5 A.

基于8.309μm QCL的硫化氢/甲烷开路式检测方法研究

H_(2)S,CH_(4)多组分气体浓度测量技术的研究对石油石化行业的安全生产有重要意义。基于中红外TDLAS技术,选用中心波长为8.309μm的量子级联激光器(Quantum Cascade Laser,QCL)为检测光源,搭建30 m长距离的遥测实验系统,使用WMS波长调制法对H2S,CH4气体的吸收谱线进行连续调谐与扫描,并对高频正弦载波进行了最优深化调制,实现了H2S,CH4多组分气体的同时测量。实验将H2S与5%体积分数的高浓度水汽进行混合测量,分析并验证了该波段的水汽吸收难以对测量造成交叉干扰的优良特性,并利用Savitzky-Golay平滑滤波器提高了检测信号的信噪比。通过遥测实验,分析了15 m,30 m不同遥测距离对检测信号的影响,并利用增加积分时间与计算信噪比的方法,得到了128.75×10^(-9)m的遥测最低限。最后,Allan方差的计算结果表明,当积分时间为183 s,142 s时,系统对H2S,CH4气体的最低检测下限分别为0.593×10^(-9)和1.160×10^(-9)。本文的研究结果为中红外波段H2S,CH4多组分气体的高灵敏度、同时测量提供了一种有效途径,为多组分气体的遥测应用提供了参考。

Theoretical Investigation of Electronic and Optical Properties of Si/SiGe Quantum Cascade Structures

This paper reviews the basic properties of the SiGe alloy, presents some new results on its electronic and optical properties, and discusses the approach that has been followed to model quantum wells containing SiGe layers for applications in quantum cascade lasers. The shape of the confining potential, the subband energies and their eigen envelope wave functions are calculated by solving a one-dimensional Schr?dinger equation. The calculations of optical parameters are used to optimize the Si/SiGe quantum cascade structures. Our results are found to be in good agreement with other calculations.

Highly-sensitive NO,NO2,and NH3 measurements with an open-multipass cell based on mid-infrared wavelength modulation spectroscopy

A compact prototype based on mid-infrared wavelength modulation spectroscopy（WMS）is developed for the simul-taneous monitoring of NO,NO2,and NH3 in the urban area.Three quantum cascade lasers（QCLs）with central frequencies around 1900.0 cm^-1,1600.0 cm^-1,and 1103.4 cm^-1are used for NO,NO2,and NH3detections,respectively,by timedivision multiplex.An open-path multi-pass cell of 60-m optical path length is applied to the instrument for high sensitivity and reducing the response time to less than 1 s.The prototype achieves a sub-ppb detection limit for all the three target gases with an average time of about 100 s.The instrument is installed in the Jiangsu environmental monitoring center to conduct performance tests on ambient air.Continuous 24-hour measurements show good agreement with the results of a reference instrument based on the chemiluminescence technique.

EC-QCL中红外激光外差光谱遥测技术研究

具有高灵敏度、高光谱分辨率的中红外激光外差光谱气体探测,是以窄线宽激光器作为本地振荡器,通过放大入射的微弱吸收信号,实现大气痕量气体柱浓度和垂直浓度廓线的遥感探测技术。基于当前的激光外差辐射计,提出了一种新型的仪器结构。引入直接吸收光谱系统实现外差系统工作波长的选定和频率标定。采用紧凑型红外黑体源EMIRS200作为宽带辐射光源,替代太阳光,进行激光外差系统的验证分析。为激光外差辐射计的下一步系统集成提供了新方法。研制了中红外宽调谐激光外差辐射计概念验证系统,对系统基本参数进行了测试分析。该系统采用8μm外腔量子级联激光器(EC-QCL)作为本地振荡光源,红外黑体源EMIRS200作为辐射光源。通过对该系统基本参数的测试数据分析,获得了系统信噪比(~120)和外差转换效率(~0.006)参数。利用艾伦方差分析确定了EC-QCL的稳定时间至少达到了133 s,因此非常适合于激光外差光谱的采集。得到直接吸收光谱系统的1σ最小体积分数探测限为2.312×10^(-8),能够满足大气甲烷高灵敏检测需求,同时实现外差系统工作波长的选定和频率标定。最后利用已建立的激光外差辐射计概念验证系统获取了甲烷中红外8μm处高分辨激光外差吸收光谱,并与甲烷在8μm波段附近的直接吸收光谱进行了光谱比对。最后拟合了系统光谱分辨率参数,验证了该概念验证系统的高光谱分辨率,能满足较窄线宽条件下的高分辨率激光外差光谱的测量。实验结果表明,激光外差系统中引入直接吸收光谱系统可以实现外差系统工作波长的选定和频率标定。紧凑型红外黑体源EMIRS200可以用于激光外差辐射计的结构优化,实现激光外差系统的分析验证,为进一步应用于测量实际大气中多组分气体的光谱提供了实验基础并拓展激光外差辐射计在高精度遥感探测领域的应用。

中红外可调谐量子级联激光器研究进展

量子级联激光器(QCL)是中红外波段重要的激光光源,其中,可调谐中红外量子级联激光器具有单纵模、频率可调谐的优点,成为目前研究的热点。可调谐中红外量子级联激光器主要通过分布反馈(DFB)光栅、分布布拉格反射(DBR)光栅、外腔衍射光栅等方法实现。本文介绍了中红外量子级联激光器的基本原理,分别归纳、总结了近年来DFB、DBR可调谐量子级联激光器以及外腔可调谐量子级联激光器的研究进展,讨论了各种可调谐方法的优缺点。最后,对可调谐量子级联激光器的发展趋势进行了展望。

MOCVD生长的中红外高功率量子级联激光器

量子级联激光器(QCL)是中远红外波段的优质光源,具有体积小、重量轻、电光转化效率高等诸多优势,在传感、通信和国防等领域有重要的应用前景。金属有机物化学气相沉积(MOCVD)技术作为更高效的外延方式,应发展适用于QCL的MOCVD外延生长技术以满足快速增长的市场需求。本文报道了全结构由MOCVD技术外延的QCL,通过将传统的“双声子共振”有源区结构修订为“单声子共振结合连续态抽取”结构,减少了电子的热逃逸,改善了器件的温度特性。针对该结构,进一步改变了有源区的掺杂浓度,并对比了不同掺杂浓度对器件性能的影响。腔长8 mm、平均脊宽约6.7μm的较高掺杂有源区器件在20℃下连续输出功率达3.43 W,中心波长约4.6μm,电光转化效率达13.1%;8 mm腔长的较低掺杂有源区器件在20℃下连续输出功率达2.73 W,中心波长约4.5μm,阈值电流仅0.56 A,峰值电光转化效率达15.6%。器件的输出功率和电光转化效率较之前文献报道的MOCVD制备的QCL有明显提高。该结果表明,MOCVD完全具备生长高功率QCL的能力,这对推动QCL的技术进步具有重要意义。

共振声子THz QCL有源区结构设计

利用Airy函数代换与传输矩阵方法精确计算了有外加偏压下电子在共振声子太赫兹量子级联激光器有源区单个周期内的透射系数与波函数,得到了不同偏压下的电子波函数分布以及准束缚态能级位置与外加偏压的关系曲线。在仿真计算的基础上设计了一种共振声子太赫兹量子级联激光器的有源区结构。计算结果表明,对于设计的结构,当单个周期两端的外加偏压为45 mV时达到太赫兹工作点。此时,发射区内E3能级和E2能级对应的波函数能够交叠,相应发射波属于太赫兹频段,波长为98.0μm,频率为3.05 THz。电子在弛豫区内E2和E1能级间跃迁发出的能量为36.0 meV,与GaAs的纵向光学声子能量(36 meV)相同,有利于粒子数反转。

基于QCL的红外吸收光谱技术的研究进展

量子级联激光器作为一种新型的单极型半导体激光器,其峰值发射波长处于中红外波段(2.5~25μm),具有功率高、线宽窄、响应速率快等传统半导体激光器所没有的独特优势,且具有较高的探测灵敏度,非常适合中红外波段的气体分子的检测。可广泛应用于大气痕量气体、呼吸气体、燃烧气体、生化气体、机动车尾气、工业废气以及农药残留气体等低浓度气体的检测。因此,利用量子级联激光器对气体分子进行探测在非侵入式医学诊断、环境监测以及工农业生产等领域都具有十分重要的意义。自20世纪末量子级联激光器发明以来,室温激光器的性能得到了长足的进步,也出现了多种结构形式的量子级联激光器。这也使得量子级联激光器红外吸收光谱技术得到了很大的发展。事实上,很多光谱技术在量子级联激光器发明之前就已经得到了发展和应用,而利用量子级联激光器作为光源则在很大程度上扩展了可探测波段,也在一定程度上提高了探测极限。这其中就包括了直接吸收光谱技术、波长调制技术、腔衰荡光谱技术、腔增强吸收光谱技术以及光声光谱等。综述了国内外量子级联激光器进行红外吸收光谱技术的研究现状和发展趋势,分析了量子级联激光器红外吸收光谱技术在发展过程中所遇到的瓶颈以及后期得到的解决方案,比较详细地介绍了各种方法的原理、应用,并指出了在吸收光谱测量中的优缺点,同时对外场痕量气体探测作了简要总结。最后,对量子级联激光器红外吸收光谱技术在未来痕量气体探测上的应用和发展进行了展望,指出随着红外吸收光谱技术的快速发展,这些方法可以得到更有效的改进和发展,进而朝着高灵敏度、高集成度以及高时效方向发展。