Blue-Green Fiber Laser for Biomedical Applications

描述(申请人提供)：使用在可见光谱的蓝绿色部分具有两个不同照明波长的激发源同时检测标记物和样品中的标记染料的荧光是一种广泛使用的分析工具。这种方法已经被用于最有能力的自动DNA测序仪，以及许多其他生物医学仪器。为了实现这一点，目前的机器要么使用两个蓝绿线的气体激光器，要么使用两个来自Ar离子激光器的线。这些激光光源体积大、功率低、价格昂贵。低成本、紧凑、高输出功率的蓝绿激光器是非常理想的。这样的装置将对健康科学相关仪器的设计产生巨大的积极影响。实现这一目标的一个(1)解决方案是开发基于双波长(蓝绿)光纤激光腔的激光光源。与固体晶体和基于气体的设备相比，这种光源具有许多优势，被认为是开发用于生物医学应用的微型廉价激光器的理想选择。尤其是掺Yb光纤，因为它有两个吸收带而脱颖而出。这一特性显示了双线激光器的发展前景。在这个项目中，我们的总体目标是开发一种基于双包层单模掺Yb光纤的激光器，它可以发射两条可见光：蓝光(489 Nm)和绿光(519 Nm)。这将通过倍频Yb(Yb)在？=978 nm和？=1038 nm处的初级发射线来实现。在第一阶段，我们论证了用掺Yb3+光纤产生蓝绿光的可行性。在第二阶段，我们将制造并测试用于生物医学应用的蓝绿激光器的工作原型。从长远来看，这种双波长激光光源的商业供应将使自动DNA测序仪的创建成为可能，这种测序仪比目前的型号更小、更便宜，操作成本更低，并将提供更高的测序速度和准确性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The simultaneous detection of the fluorescence of marker dyes in a reference and in the sample using an excitation source with 2 distinct illumination wavelengths in the blue-green portion of the visible spectrum is a widely practiced analytical tool. This approach has been used in the most capable automated DNA sequencers, and a number of other biomedical instruments. To achieve this, current machines use either 2 gas lasers with blue and green lines, or 2 lines from an argon ion laser. These laser light sources are bulky, power inefficient, and expensive. A low cost blue-green laser that is compact and provides high output power is highly desirable. Such a device will have a tremendous positive impact on health science related instrument designs. One (1) solution to achieve this aim is the development of a dual wavelength (blue-green) optical fiber lasing cavity based laser source. Such a source has a number of advantages over solid crystal and gas based devices and is considered ideal for developing miniature inexpensive lasers for biomedical applications. Yb-doped optical fiber stands out, in particular, because of its 2 absorption bands. This characteristic shows promise for the development of a dual-line laser. In this project, our overall aim is to develop a double clad single mode Yb-doped fiber based laser emitting at 2 visible lines: blue (489 nm), and green (519 nm). This will be achieved by frequency doubling the primary emission lines of Ytterbium (Yb) at ?=978 nm and ?=1038 nm. In Phase I, we demonstrated the feasibility of generating blue and green lines from Ytterbium-doped fiber. In Phase II, we will fabricate and test a working prototype of the blue-green laser for biomedical applications. In the long term, the commercial availability of this dual wavelength laser light source will enable the creation of automatic DNA sequencers that are much smaller and less expensive than present models, are less costly to operate, and will provide higher sequencing speed and accuracy.