SBIR Phase I: Broadly Tunable Room-Temperature Terahertz Quantum Cascade Laser Sources And Systems

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将满足对紧凑型宽可调谐太赫兹（THz）源日益增长的需求，这些源用于制药行业的片剂检查、制造业的质量控制、医学界的诊断成像、安全机构的违禁药物和爆炸物检测、开发高灵敏度化学/生物传感器的公司、以及活跃于太赫兹研究的科学界。目前存在一个空白的紧凑和负担得起的源系统，特别是在3 - 6太赫兹范围内。我们将成为第一家提供基于半导体激光技术的室温太赫兹系统的公司，该系统在几乎整个1 - 6太赫兹范围内提供窄带连续波（CW）或准CW输出可调谐。我们的系统将提供最大的频谱覆盖和调谐带宽在竞争的商业太赫兹源类似的规模和操作。我们的主要价值主张是为太赫兹开发人员提供紧凑的室温免维护交钥匙太赫兹系统，具有前所未有的光谱覆盖范围，其尺寸，操作简单性和制造成本与商业上成功的宽可调谐外腔二极管和量子级联激光器相似。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将展示广泛可调谐的室温太赫兹（THz）半导体激光源和系统。我们的技术平台基于双波长中红外量子级联激光器（QCL）的室温太赫兹差频产生（DFG）。DFG-QCL源有源区设计用于支持两个中红外频率的激光。在中间太赫兹频率发射是可能的量子工程的有源区域具有广泛分布的二阶光学非线性有效产生1 - 6太赫兹。激光芯片将集成在一个外腔（EC）系统中，由计算机控制的衍射光栅旋转以选择太赫兹发射线。该系统的调谐范围将明显大于市场上任何其他紧凑太赫兹源，这对传感和光谱应用非常重要。室温操作将使紧凑的系统占地面积和坚固的外壳适合便携式操作。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will address the growing demand for compact broadly-tunable terahertz (THz) sources used by pharmaceutics for tablet inspection, the manufacturing sector for quality control, the medical community for diagnostic imaging, security agencies for contraband drug and explosives detection, firms developing high sensitivity chemical/biological sensors, and the scientific community active in THz research. Currently a void exists for compact and affordable source systems, particularly in the 3 - 6 THz range. We will be the first company to offer room-temperature THz systems based on semiconductor laser technology that provides narrow-band continuous wave (CW) or quasi-CW output tunable in nearly the entire 1 - 6 THz range. Our system will provide the largest spectral coverage and tuning bandwidth amongst competing commercial THz sources of similar size and operation. Our key value proposition is providing THz developers with a compact room-temperature maintenance-free turn-key THz system with unprecedented spectral coverage that is similar in size, operation simplicity, and manufacturing cost as commercially successful broadly-tunable external-cavity diode and quantum cacscade lasers. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will demonstrate widely tunable room-temperature terahertz (THz) semiconductor laser sources and systems. Our technology platform is based on room-temperature THz difference-frequency generation (DFG) in dual-wavelength mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers (QCL). The DFG-QCL source active region is designed to support lasing at two mid-infrared frequencies. Emission at an intermediate THz frequency is made possible by quantum-engineering the active region to possess broadly distributed second-order optical nonlinearity for efficient generation from 1 - 6 THz. The laser chips will be integrated in an external-cavity (EC) system and a computer-controlled diffraction grating is rotated to select the THz emission line. The tuning range of the system will be significantly larger compared any other compact THz sources on the market, which is very important for sensing and spectroscopic applications. Room-temperature operation will enable a compact system footprint and robust housing suitable for portable operation.