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Superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers operating above 1 THz were developed for instruments on Herschel Space Observatory.
Superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers operating above 1 THz were developed for instruments on Herschel Space Observatory.
JPL has unique sensitivity enhancement techniques for near ideal silicon imaging arrays from soft X-ray to near IR wavelengths.
JPL has unique sensitivity enhancement techniques for near ideal silicon imaging arrays from soft X-ray to near IR wavelengths.
Tunable diode lasers have been designed, fabricated, and flight qualified for instruments on Mars Polar Lander and Mars Science Laboratory.
Tunable diode lasers have been designed, fabricated, and flight qualified for instruments on Mars Polar Lander and Mars Science Laboratory.

In situ high resolution spectroscopy in the mid-infrared (3-10 µm) is particularly powerful since the fundamental vibrational transitions of many molecules fall in this range.

Tunable infrared lasers with the characteristics needed for particular gases are often not available commercially, and so a development activity was formed at MDL in the early 1990s. Early accomplishments included the development of the first semiconductor laser in the 1.8-2.1 µm range, which was delivered (Mars '98 mission) for the Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor (MVCS) payload to the Mars Polar Lander project. Since 2002 a strong effort was made at MDL which led to the successful development of mid-infrared interband cascade laser (ICL) devices. MDL's ICLs have now been integrated into laser spectrometers and used in JPL aircraft and balloon experiments for measuring atmospheric HCl and CH4 profiles. In addition, the development of 3.27 µm ICLs for detection of the isotopes of methane and carbon dioxide proved to be an important factor for the selection of a JPL instrument, the Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS), on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).

One of the major technical areas being pursued at MDL is the use of III-V layered materials for infrared detection. At present, most infrared detectors rely on a bulk semiconductor such as HgxCd1-xTe that has an electron bandgap small enough to allow the absorption of low-energy infrared photons. While excellent performance can be obtained, issues and problems persist, such as detector uniformity, maximum wavelength, maximum array size, manufacturing yield, and especially cost. These factors continue to motivate the work being done at MDL. Furthermore, while sensitive far-infrared detector arrays are badly needed for future astrophysics missions such as SAFIR, the production of large arrays for wavelengths beyond 30 µm remains a long-standing problem. A new device concept currently under development, called QWISP, may provide a solution.

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