This Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Phase II project will enable a new generation of single-frequency semiconductor lasers to enable applications in displays, precision instruments and defense. Under the Phase I project the team developed industry-leading first generation lasers up to 200 mW. The initial customer feedback from a variety of applications has converged around the need for higher power under CW operating conditions and spectral stability under arbitrary modulation. Further feedback points to the need to address these requirements in a cost effective manner to ensure a competitive solution. The proposal outlines an innovative combination of materials engineering and monolithic device features to address these issues. The team proposes to fabricate and deliver for customer evaluation single frequency lasers operating (1) >500 mW under CW conditions or (2) meeting specified levels of spectral stability at pulse widths below 100 nsec with various duty cycles.
If successful this STTR Phase II project will enable a new generation of low cost single-frequency semiconductor lasers to enable applications in displays, precision instruments and defense. This work has a strong educational component with students in device and fabrication classes at SMU been exposed to and benefit from the proposed research. The devices, software and concepts developed on this STTR will educate students and visitors to the SMU photonics website, impact the world economy with laser instrumentation for medical and scientific applications, provide laser displays, and have a humanitarian contribution since these lasers are used in magnetometers to find mines and improvised explosive devices in war torn regions of the world.
This objective of this Small Business Technology Transfer Phase II-B option was to optimize and commercialize the distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser technology developed under Phase II of this program. The DBR laser diodes under this program now represent the industry benchmark for high-power single-frequency diode lasers finding use in numerous applications. This technology development and commercialization effort was focused toward meeting requirements specified by our commercial customers. In Phase I Photodigm demonstrated successfully the concept of high-power DBR lasers emitting in excess of 700 mW in a single-spatial and single-spectral mode around 1064 nm. Phase II resulted in further device improvements as well as additional emission wavelengths. As a result, the number of sold DBR lasers increased significantly. With steadily increasing sales, there was an identified need to make further improvements in the performance of our devices based on specific customer inputs. The research under this program resulted in significant increases in our understanding of both the high speed performance of the laser devices and the materials used fabricate them. There was excellent progress made on all tasks proposed under this Phase IIB program with regard to high performance DBR laser development. Photodigm was able to develop single-mode single-frequency DBR laser devices at numerous wavelengths having CW output power levels and slope efficiencies 30% to 100% greater than those of any other manufacturer. Based on these results, Photodigm now offers these devices as standard commercial laser products. Also, Photodigm is currently the sole supplier for several of these new laser diode wavelengths and anticipates a significant commercial advantage as instruments using these lasers are introduced as commercial products. Additionally, Photodigm has become the leading United States supplier of single-frequency DBR lasers used in precision spectroscopic applications. These include laser sources for use in Atom Optics applications such as atom cooling and trapping (primarily using the Alkali atoms Potassium, Rubidium, and Cesium) for precision navigation and timing (PNT), quantum computing, and other fundamental physics research. Other newly emerging applications include both Raman and absorption spectroscopy at specific atomic and molecular wavelengths. Raman spectroscopy is used to detect spectral signatures of complex molecules for applications ranging from pharmaceutical quality control to Homeland Security applications such as explosives detection. Other absorption spectroscopy applications include Oxygen detection to monitor emissions of coal-fired plants and ground-based water vapor measurement for advanced weather analysis and forecasting. In summary, this Phase IIB development effort has been highly successful in that Photodigm has been able to introduce standard commercial products based on the technology developed under Phase I and Phase II of this program. This has resulted in steady revenue growth for the company and this is expected to both continue and increase with our newly introduced products. The successful commercialization of this laser technology will provide significantly increased access to state-of-the art science such as precision absorption spectroscopy and the study of Bose-Einstein Condensates that had previously only been available to a limited number of specialized research institutions.
