Tunable diode lasers and their applications in trace gas and liquid detection

Abstract

<p>The use of InGaAsP semiconductor lasers as radiation sources in gas and liquid detection is described in this thesis. Single mode operation and tunability were studied in several schemes including diode lasers with a short external cavity (SXC), diode lasers with multiple short external cavities (MSXC), and a grating external cavity (GEC) diode laser. Comparisons of SXC, MSXC and GEC lasers are given in terms of tunability, side mode suppression ratio (SMSR), stability, and ease of construction and operation. In highly sensitive gas detection, the harmonic content of residual amplitude modulation (RAM) for current modulation of the diode lasers was studied based on the concept that the light intensity rather than the electric field is directly modulated by the injection current. Formulae for RAM and the absorption signals are given for injection current modulation spectroscopy with diode lasers. Water vapour was detected by using InGaAsP SXC and DFB diode lasers, and an electronic subtracter was employed to reduce the detection noise. A sensitivity of $\approx$1.6 $\times$ 10$\sp{-6}$ in units of equivalent absorbance in an equivalent noise bandwidth of 1.25Hz was obtained. In liquid detection, InGaAsP laser diodes with multiple short external cavities (MSCX's) were developed to provide a wide spectral coverage, up to 72nm spectral coverage was achieved. Liquid detection by MSXC diode lasers was studied in conjunction with multivariate calibration methods, i.e., principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS). A sensitivity of 0.1% H$\sb2$O in D$\sb2$O was achieved and the limiting noise source was assessed. Three component mixtures of H$\sb2$O, acetone and methanol were studied in terms of regression factors and outlier detection in the PCR and the PLS algorithms. To achieve even broader tunability by means of external cavity, work on making broad gain peak InGaAsP/InP lasers was initiated.</p>