Improved spectrometer based on nonlinear optics
November 12, 2008Scientists at Stanford University and Japan's National Institute of Informatics have created a new highly sensitive infrared spectrometer. The device converts light from the infrared part of the spectrum to the visible part, where the availability of superior optical detectors results in strongly improved sensing capabilities.
The research will appear in the Nov. 24 issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society's open access journal. The new spectrometer is 100 times more sensitive than current commercial optical spectrum analyzers used in industrial applications such as optical communication, semiconductor microelectronics and forensic analysis.
Current spectrometers being used on the market today cover a wide spectral range, allow for moderately fast wavelength sweeps, have a good spectral resolution and don't require cryogenic cooling. However, the sensitivity of these instruments is limited, making them unsuitable for capturing single-photon-level spectra at telecommunication wavelengths.
Cryogenic cooling can increase the sensitivity of these devices, yet reduces the usefulness for industrial applications. One possible solution is to up-convert near-infrared to visible light in a nonlinear medium. The up-converted photons can then be detected using a single-photon detector for visible light.
The authors use a single-photon counting module, which results in 100 times better sensitivity. They implemented the frequency conversion via sum-frequency generation in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide, which can be thought of as combining two low-energy photons to get one high-energy photon.
Key Findings
-- The up-conversion based spectrometer's sensitivity is 100 times higher compared to current commercial optical spectrum analyzers.
-- Cryogenic cooling is not required for increased sensitivity, making the device practical for a variety of industrial applications.
-- The cost and system complexity of the spectrometer is reduced because it only uses one single-photon detector instead of an array of detectors.
Citation: "Waveguide-Based Single-Pixel Up-Conversion Infrared Spectrometer," Optics Express, Vol. 16, Issue 24.
Source: Optical Society of America
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
gas leaks in space
3 hours ago
-
Weight required to balance a boom stand?
4 hours ago
-
Questions about Equivalence principle & Einstein Elevator?
6 hours ago
-
Kinetic energy of gas
7 hours ago
-
Understanding induced emfs
9 hours ago
-
What is the precise definition of a year?
10 hours ago
- More from Physics Forums - General Physics
More news stories
Explained: Sigma
It's a question that arises with virtually every major new finding in science or medicine: What makes a result reliable enough to be taken seriously? The answer has to do with statistical significance -- but ...
Feb 09, 2012 |
5 / 5 (19) |
66
Quantum physicist explains $100K offer for proof scaled-up quantum computing is impossible
(PhysOrg.com) -- MIT researcher Scott Aaronson has certainly riled the physics community with his offer this past Friday, of $100,000 to anyone who can prove that scaled-up quantum computing is impossible. ...
Diamond light, brighter than the sun
Its the size of five football pitches and generates light 10 billion times brighter than the sun. As the Diamond Light Source celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, Penny Bailey visits one of the ...
Feb 07, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (7) |
18
|
Physicists 'record' magnetic breakthrough
An international team of scientists has demonstrated a revolutionary new way of magnetic recording which will allow information to be processed hundreds of times faster than by current hard drive technology.
Feb 07, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (41) |
14
|
Hints of the Higgs - papers are submitted
Back in December 2011, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN presented some exciting results that provided tantalising hints of the Higgs boson.
Feb 08, 2012 |
4.1 / 5 (7) |
10
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
Latin America mining boom clashes with conservation
Latin America is experiencing a mining boom as prices rise fuelled by a hike in global demand, but the region is also being hit by a wave of violent protests, strikes and rallies by environmentalists.
Love a click away in Indonesia's Twitter Republic
He was a geeky kid from Yogyakarta, she a glamorous city girl in Jakarta. In a country with one of the world's most vibrant social networking scenes they fell in love on Twitter.
Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...
GPS court ruling leaves US phone tracking unclear
A US Supreme Court decision requiring a warrant to place a GPS device on the car of a criminal suspect leaves unresolved the bigger issue of police tracking using mobile phones, legal experts say.
Europeans protest controversial Internet pact
Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.