FBH With Current R&D Results At The Photonics Days

For two days, experts from research and industry will meet in Berlin-Adlershof to discuss current trends in laser technology, heterointegration, microsystems technology, and other topics. On October 8 and 9, the focus will again be on quantum technologies. Prof. Tim Schröder, Prof. Markus Krutzik, and Dr. Sven Ramelow, who each head a joint lab between the Ferdinand Braun Institute and Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin), will chair four Quantum Symposia ( Q-Imaging, Q-Communication, Q-Computing , and Q-Sensing ) – supported by Dr. Tommaso Pregnolato, who also conducts research at the FBH, and Dr. Gregor Pieplow from HU Berlin. The aim of these symposia is to provide an overview of current trends and developments and to establish connections between current research and industrial application. Quantum technologies and laser modules specifically for space applications will also be the focus of a laboratory tour at the FBH, which is part of the supporting program.

UVC LEDs for medical applications and gas sensing
Another focus of the FBH this year is UV light-emitting diodes (LEDs): Dr. Sven Einfeldt, head of the Joint Lab GaN Optoelectronics at the FBH, is one of the chairs of the session ' UV & X-Ray Technologies & Applications '. In this context, Dr. Jan Ruschel will present technological advances in UVC LEDs. The institute has succeeded in significantly increasing the efficiency, lifetime and performance of LEDs that emit light in the far-UVC wavelength range below 235 nanometers (nm). This opens up new applications in the medical field and in gas sensing. For example, harmful microorganisms and in particular multi-resistant pathogens (MRP) can be killed without the development of resistance. Due to the high absorption at these wavelengths, the light penetrates only slightly into the living layers of the skin and can disinfect without causing damage that is more severe than that caused by normal exposure to the sun.

Company Pitch: miniaturized far-UVC diode laser module for disinfection
UVC radiation for medical use is also the focus of the 'UV-COLA' project, which Susann-Alice Seeger will present in her company pitch. This spectral range can be accessed using both LEDs (see above) and diode lasers. The approach, which the FBH is pursuing together with Chemnitz University of Technology, is based on violet-emitting semiconductor lasers. Brilliant and powerful radiation is generated in a MOPA configuration and frequency-doubled into the UVC spectral range using a nonlinear crystal. Coupled into a thin fiber, the nasopharynx could then be directly disinfected. This area is considered an important refuge for multi-resistant germs, from where they can spread further or lead to serious infections.

Gallium arsenide-based photonic integration
Many applications in quantum physics, spectroscopy, and biosensing rely on lasers emitting at wavelengths from 630 nm to 1180 nm. This wavelength range can be addressed using the semiconductor material gallium arsenide (GaAs). In his presentation in the session ' Advances in hybrid PICs based on PolyBoard and SiN for communications, sensing, and quantum technologies Part II ,' Dr. Jan-Philipp Koester will discuss the integration of GaAs chiplets using microtransfer printing onto passive, low-loss silicon nitride PICs (photonic integrated circuits – PICs).

At the booth, the FBH will also present a monolithic, GaAs-based photonic integrated waveguide platform with on-chip amplification and passive, shallow- and deep-etched waveguides. It forms the basis for ring-cavity coupled lasers and is suitable for the wavelength range from 950 nm to 1180 nm.