Dec 22, 2010 – Daylight Solutions, Inc., (San Diego, CA) the world leader in mid infrared laser sources, is witnessing a new trend by its customers to explore the entire mid-IR spectrum. Whereas most customers previously worked within broad but limited regions of the mid-IR, many are now expanding their research to include the entire range from 3 µm to 12 µm.
The company’s modular approach to laser design allows customers the option of utilizing multiple laser heads with a single controller. Several customers are opting to take advantage of these economies of scale in order to increase their coverage. Customers are free to mix and match laser heads, including those with different wavelengths and modes – such as pulsed, continuous wave (CW), or Mode Hop-Free (MHF).
Daylight Solutions offers flexible, multiple-head systems, known as the Multi-X, that provide extremely broad laser coverage in the mid-IR. While much work has been done to broaden the gain of single Quantum Cascade, Interband Cascade, and Diode Lasers in the mid-IR, single chip coverage remains limited to approximately 30% of the gain medias center wavelength. Daylight Solutions’ multiple-head laser systems increase the coverage available to researchers many fold. “The market has moved to full acceptance of Daylight Solutions’ patented ECqcL™ [External Cavity Quantum Cascade Laser] technology and now considers instruments based on ECqcL’s as standard laboratory tools,” says Michael Radunsky, Product Marketing Manager for Daylight Solutions Scientific Product Line. “Now as our customer’s explore the entire spectrum, we find that they are stepping up to multiple head configurations to advance their research. This is the high-brightness, narrow linewidth path to discovery.”
The First Multi-X system was delivered to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH with six heads for use in Bidirectional Scatter Distribution Function measurements (BSDF). Understanding the behavior of non-specularly reflected light as a function of wavelength, polarization, and incident and outgoing angles, is key to the study and interpretation of scene generation and high-quality computer-generated animation, infrared target signatures, remote sensing, and even the fundamental light-matter interaction of novel optical materials. Broad wavelength coverage is essential to obtaining complete data sets, which can be used to create more accurate models. Prof. Michael Marciniak who built a scatterometer based on the Multi-X, says, “Everyone I talk to about it, whether they have their own scatterometer or they have us characterize their samples for them, is excited about the spectral capability your lasers add. This capability just isn’t available anywhere else!”
Daylight Solutions is in the process of delivering a continuous wave Multi-X system to the labs of Dr. David Grills in the Chemistry Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY. When completely installed, the system will provide almost 1,000 cm-1 of CW coverage from 4.4-9.5 µm and will be used for nanosecond Time-Resolved Infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy measurements on condensed-phase samples. Coupled with the Laser-Electron Accelerator Facility (LEAF) pulsed-electron source at BNL, this system will allow for measurements of the lifetimes and IR spectra of many types of transient species generated by pulse radiolysis. This is of interest to the catalysis community as well as others. Dr. Grills, who is leading the project says, “The recent availability of a broadly tunable, high power mid-IR source in the form of Daylight Solutions’ Multi-X system is set to revolutionize the field of TRIR spectroscopy. It has allowed us to couple TRIR with condensed-phase pulse radiolysis for the first time. We anticipate that the structural specificity of IR detection will open up the field of pulse radiolysis to a wide range of new users.”
Other Multi-X systems will be used in Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy, Aerosol Spectroscopy, and Stand-Off Detection. Both CW and pulsed performance is available based on the needs of the user. “We have been focusing on providing broad coverage to the mid-IR Community,” says Radunsky. “We are pleased that the Community has embraced our path forward as we continue to push these boundaries.”
Daylight Solutions will be displaying its new products at Photonics West in the South Hall of Moscone Center in San Francisco from 25-27 January, 2011. Please visit our Booth # 2504 to learn more about the Multi-X option, or contact Chris Armacost at (858) 432-7508 or carmacost@daylightsolutions.com.