SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project is intended to develop a miniature, low cost tunable laser enabled by the volume holographic filter technology already developed and commercially available today. The project will focus in developing the tunable light source for the blue-violet and near infrared range in order to address the above-mentioned markets. It is intended that the activities of this project will result in the development of a novel architecture: a self-aligned external cavity tunable laser (ECTL) enabled by an ultra-narrow band multi-line filter. The passive self-aligning nature of the proposed tunable laser is the main driver for low cost manufacturing. A unique feature of the architecture of the ECTL is its axial symmetry. This enables the use of axially symmetric components such as TO-can laser packages, lenses and volume holographic filters which further reduces the cost of manufacturing. The ultra-narrow band spectral light management capability of the volume holographic filter enables an extremely compact ECTL: an initial proof of concept tunable laser generated single mode light with a physical length of 12 mm and a couple nanometer tuning range. If successful the outcome of this project will have many commercial applications. The tunable laser technology is a platform that can be applied from the blue-violet (375 nm) to the infrared (4000 nm) and use commercially available low cost semi-conductor lasers. The attractive price/performance ratio of the match-box size tunable laser, over such a large spectral range, will open market segments in different fields that have been sparsely addressed by the state-of-the-art tunable laser technology. In particular, the technology can play a role in decreasing the rate of carbon emission by monitoring and optimizing efficiencies in combustion processes such as engines and coal plants. The technology could contribute to increasing the deployment of environmental stations by providing the optical source at a fraction of today's cost

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project focuses on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of a novel miniature self-aligned tunable diode laser. The tunable laser platform offers two major advantages compared to currently available products and technologies: (1) passive optical alignment and assembly; and (2) extremely broad spectral coverage from visible (375nm) to the infrared (4,000nm). The self-alignment feature translates to much simpler and efficient manufacturing, and the optical design enables the new platform to be two orders of magnitude more compact than commercially available tunable diode lasers. These features combine to considerably lower the labor costs associated with assembly and packaging. The research objectives are to determine the parameters of the passive cavity that enable (1) stable single frequency operation, (2) a linewidth less than 30KHz, and (3) less than 1MHz wavelength drift. It is also critical to develop methods to tune the output to a specific target wavelength. Prototypes of the tunable laser will be built for three wavelength groups: blue (400-415 nm) ? Red (635-660 nm) and near-infrared (760-790 nm). This novel laser platform will enable a broad range of technology areas. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project has direct links to commercial applications that decrease energy use or promote renewable energy implementation. Specifically, this laser technology can assist the reduction of carbon emissions by monitoring and optimizing efficiencies in combustion processes such as engines and coal plants (via gas sensing with infrared tunable lasers). The technology will help accelerate the deployment of environmental sensing stations by providing the key optical source for sensing systems at a fraction of today?s cost. A second role would be to provide athermal operation of lasers, which could significantly reduce the energy consumption in telecommunication systems by eliminating the requirement for cooling the lasers. A third application would be improving the efficiency of renewable wind power (via wind sensing with blue-violet lasers) by enabling "smart" wind turbines. A laser-based wind sensor would provide each ?smart? turbine of a wind farm with the ability to preemptively assess and accurately predict the wind load far in advance, helping improve overall turbine efficiency and utilization. This information is critical to the planning of energy supply into the power grid. All of these applications have immediate commercial potential to help reduce the World's dependence on fossil fuels