Low-power swept-source Raman spectroscopy
Name
oe-29-16-24723.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
4.37 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
9750a79ed55f2704476a7d22a4e30618
Author(s)
Atabaki, Amir H
Herrington, William F
Burgner, Christopher
Jayaraman, Vijaysekhar
Ram, Rajeev J
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Optics Express
Publisher
The Optical Society
Citation
Atabaki, Amir H, Herrington, William F, Burgner, Christopher, Jayaraman, Vijaysekhar and Ram, Rajeev J. 2021. "Low-power swept-source Raman spectroscopy." Optics Express, 29 (16).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
'Molecular fingerprinting' with Raman spectroscopy can address important problems-from ensuring our food safety, detecting dangerous substances, to supporting disease diagnosis and management. However, the broad adoption of Raman spectroscopy demands low-cost, portable instruments that are sensitive and use lasers that are safe for human eye and skin. This is currently not possible with existing Raman spectroscopy approaches. Portability has been achieved with dispersive Raman spectrometers, however, fundamental entropic limits to light collection both limits sensitivity and demands high-power lasers and cooled expensive detectors. Here, we demonstrate a swept-source Raman spectrometer that improves light collection efficiency by up to 1000× compared to portable dispersive spectrometers. We demonstrate high detection sensitivity with only 1.5 mW average excitation power and an uncooled amplified silicon photodiode. The low optical power requirement allowed us to utilize miniature chip-scale MEMS-tunable lasers with close to eye-safe optical powers for excitation. We characterize the dynamic range and spectral characteristics of this Raman spectrometer in detail, and use it for fingerprinting of different molecular species consumed everyday including analgesic tablets, nutrients in vegetables, and contaminated alcohol. By moving the complexity of Raman spectroscopy from bulky spectrometers to chip-scale light sources, and by replacing expensive cooled detectors with low-cost uncooled alternatives, this swept-source Raman spectroscopy technique could make molecular fingerprinting more accessible.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.427105
