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Marschick G, Pelini J, Gabbrielli T, Cappelli F, Weih R, Knötig H, Koeth J, Höfling S, De Natale P, Strasser G, Borri S, Hinkov B. Mid-infrared Ring Interband Cascade Laser: Operation at the Standard Quantum Limit. ACS PHOTONICS 2024; 11:395-403. [PMID: 38405392 PMCID: PMC10885206 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.3c01159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Revised: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Many precision applications in the mid-infrared spectral range have strong constraints based on quantum effects that are expressed in particular noise characteristics. They limit, e.g., sensitivity and resolution of mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopic systems as well as the bit-error rate in optical free-space communication. Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) are a class of mid-infrared lasers exploiting interband transitions in type-II band alignment geometry. They are currently gaining significant importance for mid-infrared applications from < 3 to > 6 μm wavelength, enabled by novel types of high-performance ICLs such as ring-cavity devices. Their noise behavior is an important feature that still needs to be thoroughly analyzed, including its potential reduction with respect to the shot-noise limit. In this work, we provide a comprehensive characterization of λ = 3.8 μm-emitting, continuous-wave ring ICLs operating at room temperature. It is based on an in-depth study of their main physical intensity noise features such as their bias-dependent intensity noise power spectral density and relative intensity noise. We obtained shot-noise-limited statistics for Fourier frequencies above 100 kHz. This is an important result for precision applications, e.g., interferometry or advanced spectroscopy, which benefit from exploiting the advantage of using such a shot-noise-limited source, enhancing the setup sensitivity. Moreover, it is an important feature for novel quantum optics schemes, including testing specific light states below the shot-noise level, such as squeezed states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Marschick
- TU
Wien—Institute of Solid State Electronics & Center for
Micro- and Nanostructures, Gußhausstraße 25-25a, Vienna 1040, Austria
| | - Jacopo Pelini
- University
of Naples Federico II, Corso Umberto I 40, Napoli 80138, Italy
- CNR-INO—Istituto
Nazionale di Ottica, Largo Fermi, 6, Firenze, FI 50125, Italy
| | - Tecla Gabbrielli
- CNR-INO—Istituto
Nazionale di Ottica, Via Carrara, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
- LENS—European
Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Carrara, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
| | - Francesco Cappelli
- CNR-INO—Istituto
Nazionale di Ottica, Via Carrara, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
- LENS—European
Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Carrara, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
| | - Robert Weih
- nanoplus
Nanosystems and Technologies GmbH, Oberer Kirschberg 4, Gerbrunn 97218, Germany
| | - Hedwig Knötig
- TU
Wien—Institute of Solid State Electronics & Center for
Micro- and Nanostructures, Gußhausstraße 25-25a, Vienna 1040, Austria
| | - Johannes Koeth
- nanoplus
Nanosystems and Technologies GmbH, Oberer Kirschberg 4, Gerbrunn 97218, Germany
| | - Sven Höfling
- Julius-Maximilians-Universität
Würzburg—Physikalisches Institut, Lehrstuhl für Technische Physik, Am Hubland, Würzburg 97074, Germany
| | - Paolo De Natale
- CNR-INO—Istituto
Nazionale di Ottica, Largo Fermi, 6, Firenze, FI 50125, Italy
- CNR-INO—Istituto
Nazionale di Ottica, Via Carrara, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
- LENS—European
Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Carrara, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
- INFN—Istituto
Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Via Sansone, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
| | - Gottfried Strasser
- TU
Wien—Institute of Solid State Electronics & Center for
Micro- and Nanostructures, Gußhausstraße 25-25a, Vienna 1040, Austria
| | - Simone Borri
- CNR-INO—Istituto
Nazionale di Ottica, Via Carrara, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
- LENS—European
Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Carrara, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
- INFN—Istituto
Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Via Sansone, 1, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy
| | - Borislav Hinkov
- TU
Wien—Institute of Solid State Electronics & Center for
Micro- and Nanostructures, Gußhausstraße 25-25a, Vienna 1040, Austria
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A mid-infrared lab-on-a-chip for dynamic reaction monitoring. Nat Commun 2022; 13:4753. [PMID: 35963870 PMCID: PMC9376098 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32417-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Mid-infrared spectroscopy is a sensitive and selective technique for probing molecules in the gas or liquid phase. Investigating chemical reactions in bio-medical applications such as drug production is recently gaining particular interest. However, monitoring dynamic processes in liquids is commonly limited to bulky systems and thus requires time-consuming offline analytics. In this work, we show a next-generation, fully-integrated and robust chip-scale sensor for online measurements of molecule dynamics in a liquid solution. Our fingertip-sized device utilizes quantum cascade technology, combining the emitter, sensing section and detector on a single chip. This enables real-time measurements probing only microliter amounts of analyte in an in situ configuration. We demonstrate time-resolved device operation by analyzing temperature-induced conformational changes of the model protein bovine serum albumin in heavy water. Quantitative measurements reveal excellent performance characteristics in terms of sensor linearity, wide coverage of concentrations, extending from 0.075 mg ml-1 to 92 mg ml-1 and a 55-times higher absorbance than state-of-the-art bulky and offline reference systems.
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Corrias N, Gabbrielli T, De Natale P, Consolino L, Cappelli F. Analog FM free-space optical communication based on a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency comb. OPTICS EXPRESS 2022; 30:10217-10228. [PMID: 35472994 DOI: 10.1364/oe.443483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Quantum cascade laser frequency combs are nowadays well-appreciated sources for infrared spectroscopy. Here their applicability for free-space optical communication is demonstrated. The spontaneously-generated intermodal beat note of the frequency comb is used as carrier for transferring the analog signal via frequency modulation. Exploiting the atmospheric transparency window at 4 µm, an optical communication with a signal-to-noise ratio up to 65 dB is realized, with a modulation bandwidth of 300 kHz. The system tolerates a maximum optical attenuation exceeding 35 dB. The possibility of parallel transmission of an independent digital signal via amplitude modulation at 5 Mbit/s is also demonstrated.
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Fast amplitude modulation up to 1.5 GHz of mid-IR free-space beams at room-temperature. Nat Commun 2021; 12:799. [PMID: 33547283 PMCID: PMC7864940 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20710-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Applications relying on mid-infrared radiation (λ ~ 3-30 μm) have progressed at a very rapid pace in recent years, stimulated by scientific and technological breakthroughs like mid-infrared cameras and quantum cascade lasers. On the other side, standalone and broadband devices allowing control of the beam amplitude and/or phase at ultra-fast rates (GHz or more) are still missing. Here we show a free-space amplitude modulator for mid-infrared radiation (λ ~ 10 μm) that can operate at room temperature up to at least 1.5 GHz (-3dB cutoff at ~750 MHz). The device relies on a semiconductor heterostructure enclosed in a judiciously designed metal-metal optical resonator. At zero bias, it operates in the strong light-matter coupling regime up to 300 K. By applying an appropriate bias, the device transitions towards the weak-coupling regime. The large change in reflectance is exploited to modulate the intensity of a mid-infrared continuous-wave laser up to 1.5 GHz.
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Zhang L, Farhat M, Salama KN. Spectrometer-Free Graphene Plasmonics Based Refractive Index Sensor. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2020; 20:E2347. [PMID: 32326060 PMCID: PMC7219258 DOI: 10.3390/s20082347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Revised: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
We propose a spectrometer-free refractive index sensor based on a graphene plasmonic structure. The spectrometer-free feature of the device is realized thanks to the dynamic tunability of graphene's chemical potential, through electrostatic biasing. The proposed sensor exhibits a 1566 nm/RIU sensitivity, a 250.6 RIU-1 figure of merit in the optical mode of operation and a 713.2 meV/RIU sensitivity, a 246.8 RIU-1 figure of merit in the electrical mode of operation. This performance outlines the optimized operation of this spectrometer-free sensor that simplifies its design and can bring terahertz sensing one step closer to its practical realization, with promising applications in biosensing and/or gas sensing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Zhang
- Sensors Lab, Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia; (M.F.); (K.N.S.)
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