Investigating of gas sensing and diode laser frequency stabilisation using novel photonic microstructures

Abstract

Laser spectroscopy is nowadays a widespread research field with countless applications across multiple disciplines. In particular, the application to gas sensing in the near-infrared region significantly benefits from the specific properties of laser sources. Gas species exhibit well-defined, complex spectral absorption structures that require the utilisation of tuneable, high resolution and spectrally narrow sources to be resolved. Such requirements are fulfilled by several types of Tuneable Diode Lasers (TDL's) readily available from the optical telecommunication industry, where much work was done during the last decades to develop and improve the characteristics of these laser devices. Further technology development and intensive research has lead to TDL's of high optical power and narrow emission linewidth to be routinely available for research groups across the world, thus opening the possibility for investigation of gas absorption processes of increasing complexity and very narrow spectral scales.