LONGWAVE PHOTONICS LLC — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: S1
LONGWAVE PHOTONICS LLC — SBIR Phase I award from National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
- Amount
- $125,000
- Agency
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Topic
- S1
- Solicitation
- SBIR_18_P1
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- CA
- Period
- 2018-07-27 → 2019-02-15
Description
<p>NASA and NASA funded missions/instruments such as Aura/MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder), SOFIA/upGREAT and STO/STO-2 have demonstrated the need for local oscillator (LO) sources between 30 and 300 um (1 and 10 THz). For observations >2 THz, technologically mature microwave sources typically have microwatt power levels which are insufficient to act as LOs for a heterodyne receiver.</p><p>LongWave Photonics is proposing to develop a high power, phase/frequency-locked, single mode, THz QC-VECSEL quantum cascade laser (QC-VECSEL) system with >5 mW average power at 77K at 4.74 THz band. The system includes a THz QC-VECSEL gain chip based on metasurface gain structure with an integrated cavity adjustment structure. The VECSEL LO will be packaged in a high-reliability Stirling cycle cooler with modification to minimize vibration noise. The source will be frequency locked to a stable microwave reference with <100 kHz line width in Phase II.</p>