Tunable, mid-infrared lasers based on quasi-phase matched bulk PPLN crystals have successfully been
implemented on airborne atmospheric research platforms and enabling a detectable fractional absorbance of
about 5E-7, which equates to single digit part-per-trillion detectable concentrations for many atmospherically
important trace gases. Emerging development of ridge waveguide type PPLN crystals show promising
performance characteristics, including 100 times better conversion efficiency and good beam quality, which
enable more compact system designs. In addition, the flexibility afforded by QPM structured materials to
generate coherent mid-infrared radiation, permit unique multi-wavelength operation and detection techniques.
We report compact sub-mW mid-infrared (IR) laser sources based on difference frequency generation (DFG) in a quasiphase
matched (QPM) LiNbO3 (LN) waveguide directly pumped with two laser diodes (LDs). The mid-IR lasers operate in the cw mode at ambient temperatures, and can be used for the tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS). To construct the mid-IR laser sources, we employed a fiber-pigtailed wavelength conversion module, which
we spliced to a direct-bonded QPM-LN ridge waveguide by using the V-groove connection technique. The modules had
high external conversion efficiencies of 10 and 16 %/W for 3.4 and 2.6 &mgr;m, respectively. The signal was obtained from
a 1.55-&mgr;m-band distributed feedback (DFB)-LD, and the pump from a single-mode LD stabilized with a fiber-Bragg-grating
(FBG). We used 1.064 and 0.976-&mgr;m pump LDs for 3.4 and 2.6-(micron)m generation, respectively. The two LDs and
the wavelength converter were assembled with a polarization maintaining fiber, and then packaged in a box. We
obtained high outputs of up to 0.20 mW for the 3.4-&mgr;m laser source and 0.33 mW for the 2.6-&mgr;m laser source, and
detected CH4 and H2O absorption lines with the 3.4 and 2.6-&mgr;m laser light sources, respectively.
Efficient difference frequency generation (DFG) is obtained in the 2-μm region by using a direct-bonded periodically-poled
LiNbO3 (PPLN) ridge waveguide. The direct-bonding technique can utilize the bulk LN characteristics, which
provide certain advantages including no additional absorption, precise device design and reproducible device
fabrication. We achieved a conversion efficiency of 100%/W in the fabricated waveguide with a 0.94-μm pump laser
diode (LD) and a 1.5-μm band tunable signal LD source. We also achieved a wide tunable range of over 0.1 μm in a
50-mm-long waveguide with a single-pitch PPLN at a constant temperature. This is because the DFG bandwidth is
decided by the phase mismatch Δk. Generally, Δk=0 is only obtained at a certain wavelength, however, the Sellmeier
equation shows that Δk~0 is easy to realize in the 2-μm region when the pump is set at 0.90-0.96 μm. Subtle Δk changes around 0 realized group velocity matching and a broadband output could be obtained. Compact and
broadband tunable light sources are expected to be used for trace gas sensing in the near to medium infrared regions.
This report also describes the bundle observation of carbon monoxide isotopomer absorption lines. The DFG output
bandwidth is sufficient to observe 12CO and 13CO simultaneously. The absorption lines of the P and R branches for
each gas are clearly observed between 2.30 and 2.45 μm. DFG in the 2-μm region using direct-bonded PPLN ridge
waveguides is a promising approach for opening up new broadband applications.
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