After the age of steam (19th century) and the age of electronics (20th century) the 21st century is becoming the age of photonics. Lasers for all kinds of applications, solar cells, LED lighting, displays and many other photonic devices are already exceeding the market for microelectronics and growing faster.
Photonic Integration
The breakthrough of electronics to all domains of our society has been enabled by microelectronic integration technology, which enables low-cost integration of large circuits and systems on a single chip. Photonic Integration is still in its infancy, but rapidly gaining importance. Europe is leading a novel approach based on advanced multifunctional integration technology that supports a broad range of different applications. It will lead to a dramatic reduction of the costs of Photonic ICs which will bring them within reach for many high-tech SMEs1.
Project Description:
It will be the task of the postdoc to develop fully monolithically integrated laser systems that have the capability of emitting multiple wavelengths in the wavelength range from 1800-2100 nm, in which a number of gases show significant absorption resonances. Each of the emitted wavelengths will address a single molecular absorption line.
The source should emit narrow band light (<100 MHz bandwidth) and the wavelengths are to be tuned over the specific absorption lines of the gases that have to be detected. There is a large demand for such lasers if they can be made sufficiently inexpensive, but so far they are too expensive to find a broad application. We expect that by integrating them on a single chip they can become much cheaper.
We will develop two different types of lasers that emit a wavelength multiplex centered at the absorption lines of the gases that have to be detected and tunable over a narrow range around these lines. One system will be based on a CW (continuous wave) and the other one on a pulse laser system.
Postdoc position - Long wavelength lasers for gas sensors
