Mid-infrared quantum cascade laser based trace gas technologies: Recent progress and applications in health and environmental monitoring

This talk will focus on recent advances in the development of sensors based on mid-infrared (mid-IR) semiconductor lasers for the detection, quantification and monitoring of trace gas species as well as their applications to medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, industrial process control, and security. The development of compact trace gas sensors, in particular based on quantum cascade (QC) and interband cascade (IC) lasers, permits the targeting of strong fundamental rotational-vibrational transitions in the mid-IR, that are one to two orders of magnitude more intense than overtone transitions in the near-IR.