Yokogawa Meters & Instruments Corporation announces that it has developed the AQ6376 optical spectrum analyzer and will release it on February 16. The AQ6376 has a wide dynamic range and can perform precise, high resolution measurements of the optical spectrum of laser light in the 1.5–3.4 μm wavelength range. The AQ6376 is a bench-top analyzer that uses dispersive spectroscopy*1 and supports the 3-μm band, an industry first.
An optical spectrum analyzer is a measuring instrument that resolves the wavelength components of optical devices such as semiconductor lasers and fiber lasers in order to assess their properties. The AQ6376 will help to improve the efficiency of 3-μm optical devices and accelerate their adoption in fields such as environmental measurement and medicine, where they already are a topic of considerable interest.
Development Background:
In recent years, laser absorption spectroscopy*2 has entered wide use in the environmental measurement field for the detection of gases such as carbon oxides (COx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and hydrocarbon gas (CxHy). Although 2-μm semiconductor lasers have mainly been used as the optical source in such applications, there is an increasing need for 3-μm lasers because these gases absorb more light at longer wavelengths. Optical lasers are also being gradually introduced in the medical field, where the need to analyze substances that contain water is driving demand for 3-μm fiber lasers. Accordingly, there is a growing need for a tool that can precisely measure optical spectra in the 3-μm band.