Photodigm HOT­­™ DBR Lasers

Author: Preston Young and John E. Spencer
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Photodigm Inc.

The Photodigm family of high-power edge-emitting Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) laser diodes is based on Photodigm’s proprietary single epi growth DBR laser architecture. Since their introduction over 10 years ago, Photodigm DBR lasers have opened up opportunities for an emerging class of quantum-enabled sensing and metrology (QSM) instruments. Meeting the demand for mobile applications requires special attention to the size and power requirements of the product. Photodigm’s latest innovation is the HOT™ (High Operating Temperature) DBR, which reduces power consumption by operating at an elevated temperature so that only resistive heating be used to maintain lock to a spectroscopic transition. The HOT device eliminates the need for a thermoelectric cooler by relying on a combination of laser self-heating and resistive heating to maintain a stable operating point. Laser self-heating alone can be used to maintain a stable wavelength alone about 15 to 20C° above ambient.