Compact sensor for methane detection in the mid infrared region based on Quartz Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy

A compact system for methane sensing based on the Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy technique has been developed. This development has been taken through two versions which were based respectively on a Fabry Perot quantum wells diode laser emitting at 2.3 μm, and on a quantum wells distributed feedback diode laser emitting at 3.26 μm. These lasers emit near room temperature in the continuous wave regime. A spectrophone consisting of a quartz tuning fork and one steel microresonator was used. Second derivative wavelength modulation detection was used to perform low methane concentration measurements. The sensitivity and the linearity of the QEPAS sensor were studied. A normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient of 7.26 × 10⁻⁶ cm⁻¹ W/Hz^1/2 was achieved. This corresponds to a detection limit of 15 ppmv for 12 s acquisition time.     

Broadband 2.84 μm luminescence properties and Judd–Ofelt analysis in Dy3+ doped ZrF4–BaF2–LaF3–AlF3–YF3 glass

2.84 μm luminescence with a bandwidth of 213 nm is obtained in Dy³⁺ doped (ZrF₄–BaF₂–LaF₃–AlF₃–YF₃) ZBLAY glass. Three intensity parameters and radiative properties have been determined from the absorption spectrum based on the Judd–Ofelt theory. The 2.84 μm emission characteristics and energy transfer mechanism upon excitation of a conventional 808 nm laser diode are investigated. The prepared Dy³⁺ doped ZBLAY glass possessing high predicted spontaneous transition probability (45.92 s^?1) along with large calculated emission cross section (1.17×10^?20 cm²) has potential applications in 2.8 μm laser.     

Interactions between 4-(2-dimethylaminoethyloxy)-N-octadecyl-1,8-naphthalimide and serum albumins: Investigation by spectroscopic approach

A novel 4-(2-dimethylaminoethyloxy)-N-octadecyl-1,8-naphthalimide (DON) has been synthesized as a spectrofluorimetric probe for the determination of proteins. Photophysics of DON in different solvents has been delineated in this paper. Progressive redshift with polarity of solvents in emission and absorption spectra hints at intramolecular charge transfer. The interactions of DON with serum albumins (i.e., human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA)) were studied by fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy. Fluorescence data revealed that the quenching of HSA/BSA by DON were static quenching and the DON–HSA/BSA complexes were formed. The binding constant (K_b) for HSA and was found to be 8.44×10^?4 and 60.26×10^?4 M^?1 and the number of binding sites (n) were 1.00 and 1.40, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters, ΔH and ΔS, for the DON–HSA system was calculated to be ?14.83 kJ mol^?1 and 23.61 J mol^?1 K^?1, indicating the hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions were the dominant intermolecular force. ΔH and ΔS for the binding of DON with BSA was ?60.08 kJ mol^?1 and ?90.7441 mol^?1 K^?1, suggesting the hydrogen bonds and van der Waals force played the main role in the interaction. The results of displacement experiments showed that DON bound HSA/BSA occurred at the Trp-214 proximity, located in subdomain IIA of the serum albumin structure (the warfarin binding pocket). The effect of DON on the conformation of HSA was also analyzed by synchronous and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra. The fluorescence of DON could be quenched by HSA, based on which, a fluorometric method for the determination of microamount protein using DON in the medium of HCl?Tris buffer solution (pH=7.4) was developed. The linear range of the calibration curves was 0.1–10.0 μM for HSA, 0.1–11.2 μM for BSA and 0.2–9.7 μM for egg albumin (EA). The detection limit (3σ) for HSA was 1.12×10^?10 M, for BSA it was 0.92×10^?10 M and for EA it was 4.33×10^?10 M. The effect of metal cations on the fluorescence spectra of DON in ethanol was also investigated. The method has been applied to detect the total proteins in human serum samples and the results were in good agreement with those reported by the hospital.     

Controlled fabrication of Si nanostructures by high vacuum electron beam annealing

Silicon nanostructures, called Si nanowhiskers, have been successfully synthesized on Si(1 0 0) substrate by high vacuum electron beam annealing (EBA). Detailed analysis of the Si nanowhisker morphology depending on annealing temperature, duration and the temperature gradients applied in the annealing cycle is presented. A correlation was found between the variation in annealing temperature and the nanowhisker height and density. Annealing at 935 °C for 0 s, the density of nanowhiskers is about 0.2 μm⁻² with average height of 2.4 nm grow on a surface area of 5×5 μm, whereas more than 500 nanowhiskers (density up to 28 μm⁻²) with an important average height of 4.6 nm for field emission applications grow on the same surface area for a sample annealed at 970 °C for 0 s. At a cooling rate of −50 °C s⁻¹ during the annealing cycle, 10–12 nanowhiskers grew on a surface area of 5×5 μm, whereas close to 500 nanowhiskers grew on the same surface area for samples annealed at the cooling rate of −5 °C s⁻¹. An exponential dependence between the density of Si nanowhiskers and the cooling rate has been found. At 950 °C, the average height of Si nanowhiskers increased from 4.0 to 6.3 nm with an increase of annealing duration from 10 to 180 s. A linear dependence exists between the average height of Si nanowhiskers and annealing duration. Selected results are presented showing the possibility of controlling the density and the height of Si nanowhiskers for improved field emission properties by applying different annealing temperatures, durations and cooling rates.     

Thermal stability and spectroscopic properties of erbium-doped niobic-tungsten–tellurite glasses for laser and amplifier devices

Er³⁺ doped niobic-tungsten–tellurite glasses doped with concentration of Er³⁺ ion up to 3 wt% were fabricated. The effect of Er³⁺ doping concentration on thermal stability and optical properties was investigated in order to obtain the most suitable rare earth content for developing 1.5 μm compact fiber amplifier pumped with a commercial telecom 980 nm laser diode. The maximum doping concentration allowed was found to be around 1.77×10²⁰ ions/cm³, for which a broad 1.5 μm emission spectra of 65 nm FWHM and a lifetime of 3.4 ms for the ⁴I_13/2 level was measured.     

Diode-pumped actively Q-switched Nd:GGG laser operating at 938 nm

The stimulated emission cross-section of Nd:GGG crystal in 938 nm transition was measured by the amplifier approach. It is 2.3×10^?20 cm². A quasi-continuous-wave diode pumped, actively Q-switched Nd:GGG laser operating at 938 nm was demonstrated. Pumped by laser diodes with 900 W peak power and 300 μs pulse duration, it generated 168 mJ energy in long pulse mode. The slope efficiency was 36%. Q-switched by a KD?P Pockels cell, 41 mJ output pulse energy was obtained. The pulse duration and peak power were 120 ns and 340 kW, respectively. The optical to optical efficiency was 7%.     

Mid-infrared luminescence and energy transfer of Dy3+/Tm3+ doped fluorophosphate glass

This work reports the observation of emissions at 2.9 μm, 1.8 μm and 1.47 μm from Dy³⁺/Tm³⁺ codoped fluorophosphate glass upon excitation of a conventional 800 nm laser diode. Judd–Ofelt intensity parameters and radiative properties of Dy³⁺ ions in present glasses were calculated using the Judd–Ofelt theory. The mechanism and microparameters of energy transfer processes were investigated based on photoluminescence performance and lifetime measurements. The Dy³⁺/Tm³⁺ codoped fluorophosphate glass possessing advantageous spectroscopic characteristics as well as excellent thermal stability is a promising candidate for an efficient 2.9 μm laser.     

Influence of the nanoparticle sizes on the photo-induced absorption of La–Ga–S–O–Dy glass nanocomposites

We have established that the illumination by two coherent beams originating from nanosecond Nd:YAG laser at wavelengths 1064 nm and 532 nm in the La–Ga–S–O–Gd:PVA La-Ga-S-O-Dy polymer glass nanocomposites leads to substantial changes in the absorption. The effect is completely reversible and disappears after interruption of the optical treatment. The illumination power density was varied up to 0.6 GW/cm². All the samples show destruction less than 0.2% changes after more than 300,000 laser pulses. The beams were incident with the angles varying between 45° and 50° with respect to the nanocomposite surface. Moreover, the additional analysis of TEM did not demonstrate any additional aggregations. The role of light polarizations, beam stability, and light scattering is discussed.     

A beam shaping design for coupling high power diode laser stack to fiber with capability of spectral narrowing and stabilizing

We applied a VHG-FAC lens in our design in this work to collimate the fast axis and lock the output spectrally. We used a beam shaping technique to improve the beam symmetry and power density of a high power diode laser stack with a stripe mirror plate, a V-Stack mirror and polarization beam combining elements. By this technique, the beam of a high power diode laser stack is effectively coupled into a standard 365 μmcore diameter and a NA = 0.22 fiber. By this technique, compactness, higher efficiency, narrower spectral line width and lower production cost of the diodes are possible.     

A diode end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/KTA Raman laser

A diode end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/KTA intracavity Raman laser is presented. A KTA crystal with a size of 5 mm × 5 mm × 25 mm is used as the Raman active medium and its 234 cm^?1 Raman mode is employed to finish the conversion from 1064 nm fundamental laser to 1091 nm Raman laser. A 2 mm thick Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal is used as the saturable absorber. With an LD pump power of 7.5 W, the first-Stokes power of 250 mW is obtained with a pulse repetition frequency of 14.5 kHz. The corresponding diode-to-Stokes conversion efficiency is 3.3% and the pulse energy is 17.2 μJ. Pulse width is measured to be 12.6 ns and peak power is 1.4 kW.     

Effect of temperature and injection current on characteristics of TO-CAN packaged Fabry–Perot laser diode

We fabricated and investigated the thermal characteristics of TO-CAN (transistor-outline-can) packaged long wavelength GaInAsP/InP Fabry–Perot laser diode. Characteristic temperature of 55 K and peak wavelength shift of 0.4 nm/°C depending on the temperatures were obtained. Furthermore, overheating of semiconductor laser originated from thermal resistance is analyzed and evaluated by measuring junction temperature. Results from experiment and estimation are compared at extreme operating conditions in which show agreement within 1 °C.     

Low-threshold all-fiber 1000 nm supercontinuum source based on highly non-linear fiber

We present an highly efficient all-fiber compact supercontinuum source that exhibits a nearly flat spectrum from 1.1 μm to 2.1 μm. This broadband infrared optical source is made-up of a highly non-linear fiber pumped by a 1.55 μm self-Q-switched Er-Brillouin nanosecond pulsed fiber laser, which in turn is pumped by a low-power 1480 nm laser diode. In this work we highlight the great potential of highly non-linear fiber for supercontinuum generation with respect to conventional dispersion-shifted fiber by demonstrating a significant 10 dB power enhancement in the short wavelength side of the supercontinuum.     

Infrared fluorescence,energy transfer process and quantitative analysis of thulium-doped niobium silicate-germanate glass

Infrared fluorescence, energy transfer process, thermal stability and quantitative analysis of Tm³⁺ doped novel niobium silicate-germanate glasses have been investigated. The thermal stability changes indicate that the introduction of La₂O₃ to substitute for Nb₂O₅ can improve the anti-crystallization of present glass system. Intense 1.8 μm fluorescence has been achieved and the value of emission cross section can reach as high as 12.2 × 10⁻²¹ cm². Besides, the microparameters of energy transfer were analyzed by the extended overlap integral method. Hence, the results indicate that the excellent spectroscopic characteristics of this kind of silicate-germanate glass together with the good thermal properties may become a promising matrix applied for 1.8 μm band near-infrared laser.     

A miniaturized prototype of resonant banana-shaped photoacoustic cell for gas sensing

A resonant photoacoustic cell intended for laser-spectroscopy gas sensing is represented. This cell is a miniature imitation of a macro-scale banana-shaped cell developed previously. The parameters, which specify the cavity shape, are chosen so as not only to provide optimal cell operation at a selected acoustic resonance but also to reduce substantially the cell sizes. A miniaturized prototype cell (the volume of acoustic cavity of ∼5 mm³) adapted to the narrow diffraction-limited beam of near-infrared laser is produced and examined experimentally. The noise-associated measurement error and laser-initiated signals are studied as functions of modulation frequency. The background signal and the useful response to light absorption by the gas are analyzed in measurements of absorption for ammonia in nitrogen flow with the help of a pigtailed DFB laser diode oscillated near a wavelength of 1.53 μm. The performance of prototype operation at the second longitudinal acoustic resonance (the resonance frequency of ∼32.9 kHz, Q-factor of ∼16.3) is estimated. The noise-limited minimal detectable absorption normalized to laser-beam power and detection bandwidth is ∼8.07 × 10⁻⁸ cm⁻¹ W Hz^−1/2. The amplitude of the background signal is equivalent to an absorption coefficient of ∼2.51 × 10⁻⁵ cm⁻¹. Advantages and drawbacks of the cell prototype are discussed. Despite low absorption-sensing performance, the produced miniaturized cell prototype shows a good capability of gas-leak detection.     

Integrated wavelength monitoring in a photonic-crystal tunable laser diode

A photonic-crystal tunable 1.55 μm laser diode is fitted with a wavelength monitor on its rear side. The 250-μm long laser based on a coupled-cavity design has approximately 15 nm tunability. The wavelength monitor collects and differentially feeds two-photodetecting areas, thanks to a mode conversion to a higher-order mode (a mini-stopband), followed by tunneling through a thin clad. The layout is numerically optimized to minimize unwanted reflections. Electrical cross-talk was prevented through guard rings and trenches. The correlation between wavelength and the monitor photocurrent ratio demonstrates a 10–20 GHz stabilization capability, or a 15 nm monitoring range.     

2.7 μm fluorescence radiative dynamics and energy transfer between Er3+ and Tm3+ ions in fluoride glass under 800 nm and 980 nm excitation

A detailed study of the fluorescence radiative dynamics and energy transfer processes between Er and Tm ions in the Er³⁺/Tm³⁺ doped fluoride glass is reported. The fluorescence properties of 2.7 μm emission, other infrared and visible emissions are investigated under different selective laser excitations. Three Judd–Ofelt intensity parameters, energy transfer microparameters and efficiency have been determined and discussed. It is found that present Er³⁺/Tm³⁺ doped fluoride glass possesses large calculated emission cross section (8.98×10^–21 cm²) around 2.7 μm. The more suitable pumping scheme for laser applications at 2.7 μm laser is 980 nm excitation for Er³⁺/Tm³⁺ doped fluoride glass.     

Temperature measurements inside an Er3+–Yb3+ co-doped fluoride crystal heated by a NIR laser diode and probed by red-to-green upconversion

The temperature of a transparent Cd_0.7Sr_0.3F₂: Er³⁺(4%)–Yb³⁺(6%) crystalline plate 0.3 mm thick heated by a near-infrared (974 nm) laser diode and probed by a red (652 nm) laser was accurately evaluated as a function of the infrared power absorbed by the Yb³⁺ ions.The green emission generated by the Er³⁺ ions directly excited by the red laser consists of three major lines (coming from three individual Stark levels in thermal equilibrium) whose intensities were measured according to the absorbed infrared power and the distance between the heated and probed volumes, to evaluate the heating induced by the excitation of Yb³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions at 974 nm by applying the Boltzmann's equation linking the populations of emitting levels to the temperature. In the case where the Yb³⁺ ions excited by the laser diode are situated at a distance of about 0.5 mm from the edge of the crystal and for an absorbed infrared power of 100 mw, the crystal's edge temperature is reaching 80 °C after 20 s of continuous excitation at 974 nm.     

Fast and wide-band response infrared detector using porous PZT pyroelectric thick film

Porous lead zirconate titanate (PbZr_0.3Ti_0.7O₃, PZT30/70) thick films and detectors for pyroelectric applications have been fabricated on alumina substrates by screen-printing technology. Low temperature sintering of PZT thick films have been achieved at 850 °C by using Li₂CO₃ and Bi₂O₃ sintering aids. The microstructure of PZT thick film has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The dielectric properties were measured using HP 4284 at 1 kHz under 25 °C. The permittivity and loss tangent of the thick films were 94 and 0.017, respectively. Curie temperature of PZT thick film was 425 °C as revealed by dielectric constant temperature measurement. The pyroelectric coefficient was determined to be 0.9 × 10⁻⁸ Ccm⁻² K⁻¹ by dynamic current measurement. Infrared detector sensitive element of dual capacitance was fabricated by laser directly write technology. Detectivity of the detectors were measured using mechanically chopped blackbody radiation. Detectivity ranging from 1.23 × 10⁸ to 1.75 × 10⁸ (cm Hz^1/2 W⁻¹) was derived at frequency range from 175.5 Hz to 1367 Hz, and D^*’s −3 dB cut-off frequency bandwidth was 1.2 kHz. The results indicate that the infrared detectors based on porous thick films have great potential applications in fast and wide-band frequency response conditions.     

Enhanced 2.0 μm emission in Ho3+/Yb3+ co-doped silica-germanate glass

A detailed investigation on thermal and spectroscopic properties of different Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺ concentration ratios in silica-germanate glasses is displayed. According to the measurement of thermal properties, the host glass possesses high transition temperature (585 °C) as well as the large ΔT(155 °C). The 2.0 μm fluorescence can be obtained from all the samples. Maximum stimulated emission cross-section of around 2.0 μm is 0.56 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² of Ho³⁺ as calculated by McCumber theory. Besides, the underlying mechanism is analyzed by means of fluorescence spectra. Thus, desirable thermal properties and spectroscopic characteristics of Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺ co-doped silica-germanate glass is a promising material in 2.0 μm emission.     

Absorption spectroscopy of ammonia between 6526 and 6538 cm−1

The spectral measurements of ammonia absorption lines from 6526 to 6538 cm^?1 have been performed at room temperature by using fiber-coupled distributed feedback (DFB) diode laser operating at 1.531 μm. As many as 152 lines of ammonia and its line intensities, self-broadening and air-broadening coefficients were obtained, which include many weak lines not previously reported. The 20 strongest lines were obtained using the traditional direct absorption spectroscopy technology with a 30 cm single-path cell and the other 132 lines were acquired using a compact system based on off-axis integrated-cavity output spectroscopy (OA-ICOS) with an effective optical path of 36.62 m.