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的影响/商业潜力将满足对紧凑型宽可调太赫兹(THz)光源的日益增长的需求，这些光源被用于药剂学用于片剂检查、制造部门用于质量控制、医学界用于诊断成像、安全机构用于违禁品和爆炸物检测、开发高灵敏度化学/生物传感器的公司以及活跃在THz研究的科学界。目前，紧凑型和负担得起的源系统存在空白，特别是在3-6太赫兹范围内。我们将是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，该系统提供几乎在整个1-6太赫兹范围内可调的窄带连续波(CW)或准连续波输出。我们的系统将在同类大小和操作的商用太赫兹光源中提供最大的频谱覆盖和调谐带宽。我们的关键价值主张是为太赫兹开发商提供紧凑型、室温免维护的交钥匙太赫兹系统，该系统具有前所未有的频谱覆盖范围，在尺寸、操作简单性和制造成本方面与商业上成功的宽调外腔二极管和量子级联激光器相似。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将展示可广泛调谐的室温太赫兹(THz)半导体激光光源和系统。我们的技术平台是基于双波长中红外量子级联激光器(QCL)的室温太赫兹差频(DFG)。DFG-QCL源有源区设计为支持两个中红外频率的激光。通过量子工程使得在中太赫兹频率的发射成为可能，有源区具有广泛分布的二阶光学非线性，以便有效地从1-6太赫兹产生。激光芯片将集成在外腔(EC)系统中，并通过旋转计算机控制的衍射光栅来选择太赫兹发射线。该系统的调谐范围将比市场上任何其他紧凑型THz源大得多，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.