Polski

Micro laser opens the door to chip size sensors

841
2024-03-13 10:40:09
Zobacz tłumaczenie

The new device is a frequency comb - a special type of laser that can generate multiple wavelengths of light, each with a fixed frequency interval. On the spectrogram, it looks a bit like the teeth of a comb. In approximately a quarter century since their first development, these "cursor rulers" have completely transformed various high-precision measurements from timing to molecular detection. In addition, each line of the comb can be isolated and has characteristics such as amplitude modulation to transmit data through optical fibers.

However, frequency combs typically require bulky, expensive, and power consuming equipment. This greatly limits their use in laboratory environments.

Now, scientists at Stanford University have adopted two different methods to create microchip level frequency combs. A strategy called optical parametric oscillation involves reflecting a laser beam within a crystal to organize the light itself into coherent and stable wave pulses. Another method is called phase modulation, which sends the laser into the cavity and applies radio frequency signals to control the phase of the light, generating frequency repetition for the comb. However, both strategies have drawbacks, such as low energy efficiency and limited ability to adjust optical parameters.

To overcome these challenges, scientists experimented with a material called thin film lithium niobate, which has many advantages over the industry standard material silicon. Two of these characteristics include how light of various wavelengths passes through it, and how it allows beams of different wavelengths to interact to produce new wavelengths.

This new material supports both optical parametric amplification and phase modulation in a single cavity. The resulting "micro comb" size is only 1 x 10 millimeters. Researchers say that such a compact size indicates that it can be used in mobile phones or smaller personal devices. They added that it can also be easily manufactured in traditional microchip factories.

"The most surprising aspect of this comb is how it performs in terms of bandwidth, spectrum, and efficiency," said Amir Safavi Noeini, Associate Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University.

The new micro comb did not generate light pulses as expected by the researchers, but unexpectedly produced continuous output. Other combs waste power between pulses. Therefore, scientists can reduce the input power required by the device by about an order of magnitude.
The new device converts the light pumped into the cavity into a comb with an efficiency of over 93%. It can generate 200 comb lines with intervals of approximately 5.8 GHz at frequencies exceeding 1 THz. It has been proven that it is highly adjustable by simply adjusting the wireless signal applied to it. Safavi Noeini said that all of these features make it highly attractive for emerging ideas of chip level sensors that require detecting a wide range of spectra.

In addition, the device produces a flat comb, which means that the strength of comb lines with frequencies far from the center will not weaken. This flat feature helps to improve accuracy and makes micro combs available for a wider range of measurement applications.
Scientists have pointed out that the spacing between comb lines can reach 50 to 100 GHz, and the device may operate under blue to mid infrared light. This indicates that micro combs can be used for applications such as medical diagnosis, fiber optic telecommunications, LiDAR, and spectroscopy.

"We have recently started researching very lightweight, low-cost, and low-power greenhouse gas detection applications," said Safavi Noeini. Other fields such as biosensing are also very interesting.
Safavi Noeini said that in the future, scientists hope to improve the performance of devices and expand their bandwidth and operating wavelength range.
Scientists detailed their findings in the journal Nature on March 6th.

Source: Laser Net

Powiązane rekomendacje
  • Scientists demonstrate a new optical neural network training method that can crush electronic microprocessors

    The current deep neural network system (such as ChatGPT) can quickly improve energy efficiency by 100 times in training, and "future improvements will greatly increase by several orders of magnitude. Scientists from MIT and other institutions have demonstrated a new optical neural network training method that can crush state-of-the-art electronic microprocessors.Moreover, the computational density...

    2023-09-27
    Zobacz tłumaczenie
  • MKS Malaysia Penang Supercenter Factory Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony

    Recently, MKS Instruments held a groundbreaking and celebration ceremony for its Supercenter factory in Penang, Malaysia.This important moment has been witnessed jointly by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and Invest Penang, which will help meet the growing demand for semiconductor equipment for wafer manufacturing in the region and globally. This advanced factory, covering ...

    2024-11-01
    Zobacz tłumaczenie
  • Researchers have made breakthrough discoveries in the field of nanophotonics

    Researchers have made breakthrough discoveries in the field of nanophotonics. They have successfully developed a locked mode ultrafast laser using lithium niobium, a material known for its excellent optical properties. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for revolutionary applications, including telecommunications, data storage, and ultra fast imaging.A mode-locked laser is a type of lase...

    2023-11-20
    Zobacz tłumaczenie
  • Shanghai Optics and Machinery Institute has made progress in near-field state analysis of high-power laser devices based on convolutional neural networks

    Recently, the research team of the High Power Laser Physics Joint Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics identified and analyzed the abnormal near-field output of the SG - Ⅱ upgrade device by using the spatial domain computing method and the deep learning model with attention mechanism in response to the requirements of real-time and effective...

    2024-04-25
    Zobacz tłumaczenie
  • Optoma Launches Environmentally Friendly Short Focus Laser 4K Ultra High Definition Home Entertainment and Gaming Projector

    Ranked first in the global and American projection technology fields with 4K UHD and DLP ® The brand Optoma has launched Optoma UHZ35ST, a 4K ultra high definition home entertainment and gaming projector that follows the popular UHD35STx with a short focus laser. With its external power supply and various functional upgrades, UHZ35ST provides higher reliability, portability, and energy e...

    2023-09-19
    Zobacz tłumaczenie