ABSTRACT
A compact handheld probe for shifted-excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS) with an implemented dual-wavelength diode laser with an emission at 785 nm is presented. The probe is milled from aluminum and has dimensions 100 × 28 × 12 mm. The diode laser provides two excitation lines with a spectral distance of 10 cm(-1) (0.62 nm), has a spectral width smaller than 11 pm, and reaches an optical power of 120 mW ex probe. Raman experiments were carried out using polystyrene (PS) as the test sample. During a measurement time of over 1 h, a stable spectral center position of the Raman line at 999 cm(-1) of PS was achieved within a spectral window of 0.1 cm(-1). Here, the Raman intensity of this line was observed with a peak-to-peak variation smaller than ±2%, dominated by shot noise interference. A deviation of the center position of a Raman line with <±1 cm(-1) was observed over the whole excitation power range. Raman investigations of the quartz glass window of the SERDS probe showed minor interference. The results demonstrate the suitability of the developed handheld probe for Raman investigations and the application of in situ SERDS experiments to fields such as food safety control, medical diagnostics, and process control.
ABSTRACT
A dual-wavelength Y-branch distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) diode laser at 785 nm is presented as an excitation light source for shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS). The monolithic device was realized with deeply etched surface DBR gratings using one-step epitaxy. An optical output power of 140 mW was obtained in continuous-wave (CW) operation for each laser cavity, with emission wavelengths of the device at 784.50 and 785.12 nm. A spectral width of the laser emission of 30 pm (0.5 cm(-1)), including 95% of optical power, was measured. The mean spectral distance of both excitation lines is 0.63 nm (10.2 cm(-1)) over the whole operating range. Raman experiments using polystyrene as the test sample and ambient light as the interference source were carried out and demonstrate the suitability of the dual-wavelength diode laser for SERDS.
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate continues-wave 1 W at 490 nm on a 2.5 cm(3) micro-optical bench using single-path second-harmonic generation with a periodically poled MgO:LiNbO(3) bulk crystal. The pump laser is a distributed Bragg reflector tapered diode laser having a single-frequency spectrum and a pump power of 9.5 W. Based on that 1 W blue light could be achieved resulting in an optical conversion efficiency of 11%. Furthermore, the module has an output power stability of better than 2% and the blue laser beam shows an nearly diffraction limited beam quality of M(2)(sigma) = 1.2 in vertical and M(2)(sigma) = 2 in lateral direction.
