High-spectral-purity VCSELs for spectroscopy and sensors

Abstract

The use of VCSELs in spectrally-demanding applications is considered. Vertical cavity lasers with emission in the (lambda) equals 763 nm, 780 nm and 852 nm wavelength ranges have been developed and optimized for spectrally-pure emission. Measurements of output spectra, linewidth, noise, polarization and spectral aging properties are considered in detail. Typical linewidth values below 5 MHz are seen, which makes these lasers very attractive for a variety of spectroscopic applications. Two of these optically-demanding applications are considered, namely oxygen sensing and pump sources for atomic clocks; performance results for the former are presented.