Jan 30, 2010 – Poway, Calif.-based Daylight Solutions has developed a broadly tunable or fixed-wavelength mid-infrared laser source combining quantum cascade gain media with its external cavity quantum cascade laser technology. Using this source, the company manufactures a range of components, subsystems, and systems for sensors and high-power illuminators.

“We recognized that, if you can generate sources and subsystems operating in the 3- to 12-μm range, you have a number of clear market opportunities,” said CEO Tim Day. “But they also have to be very compact, fully integrated telecom-type packaging solutions.”

The company serves three major sectors. The first is the scientific research market. The second is defense and security applications – for example, thermal imaging, laser aiming, countermeasures and free-space communications – that can benefit from low-weight, highly integrated systems. The final sector is sensors, for CO₂ or glucose detection, for instance.

“There’s a whole range of molecules that you can address if you have control of the wavelength in the 3- to 12-μm regime,” Day said. The sensors also can be used for environmental monitoring and medical diagnostics applications.

PHOTONICS SPECTRA – January 2010