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Abstract
A new spectrally tuneable source has been developed for calibrating radiometric
detectors in radiance, irradiance or power mode. It is termed the Spectrally Tuneable
Absolute Irradiance and Radiance Source (STAIRS) and consists of a supercontinuum
laser, wavelength tuneable bandpass flter, power stabilisation feedback control and
output coupling optics (Figure 1) [1]. It is relatively portable, and provides a tuneable
monochromatic alternative to lamps, blackbodies or lasers.
Introduction
This paper presents a reasonably portable, monochromatic tuneable source that can
be confgured as a laser beam (as a source of optical power), or as an irradiance or
radiance source. In this way it can replace tuneable lasers or monochromator-based
sources in many radiometry applications. The source is based on a supercontinuum
laser (wavelength range 400 nm 2500 nm) commercially available from Fianium.
Such sources, combined with a monochromator, are increasingly being used for
radiometric measurements e.g. [2]. In STAIRS, the supercontinuum laser is coupled
into a flter, which provides spectral tuneability in a convenient fbre-coupled
manner. The laser power is also actively controlled using a feedback photodiode,
and a software-emulated PID controller fed into the internal optical amplifer of the
supercontinuum laser.
Stabilising the source
Without active stabilisation, the output power of the supercontinuum laser
drifts by ~1 % per hour due to the alignment- and temperature-sensitive optical
instrumentation and complex physics of the supercontinuum laser generation. With
active stabilisation, there is no apparent drift, and the signal fuctuations are due
to white noise (Figure 2). For averaging times greater than 100 s, the uncertainty
associated with the laser power, due to this noise, is <0.01 %.
Wavelength tuneable flter
The large wavelength range of the supercontinuum laser means that if a
wavelength band of only a few nm is required, over 99 % of the radiation must
be removed by a flter of some sort. The flter must therefore have a very good
rejection of out-of-band light.
Several diferent types of flter were considered during the development of STAIRS,
including acousto-optic, grating monochromators, prisms and volume Bragg
gratings. The fnal choice was to use the Laser Line Tuneable Filter (LLTF) [3] based
on Volume Bragg Grating technology. The advantage of the LLTF is a low out-of-band
transmission; its main disadvantage is its high cost. At present we have only obtained
one for the 400 nm 1000 nm spectral region (Figure 3).
The LLTF has a bandwidth of 1 nm 2 nm, with the shape and full width half
maximum of the bandpass function changing with wavelength.
Output coupling optics
The supercontinuum laser is fully fbre coupled and can provide a laser beam from
the fbre. STAIRS has already been used to calibrate the irradiance responsivity of
ocean colour radiometers, to test the stray light responsivity of an array spectrometer
and as a source for refectance measurements. For these measurements the STAIRS
radiation was used either directly from the fbre, or coupled into a small integrating
sphere (Figure 3). We are currently also developing a fat-panel source with our
commercial partner, Polymer Optics. This will create a tuneable monochromatic
source, in a box 30 mm deep and ~200 mm by ~220 mm, with an illuminated surface
170 mm by 170 mm (Figure 4). The system has an inbuilt feedback photodiode and
is anticipated to be uniform to 1 % across the illuminated surface. The source is
intended for use within, for example, vacuum chambers.
Conclusions
NPL has developed an optical source based on a supercontinuum laser and a Volume
Bragg Grating. The source can be used in power, irradiance or radiance mode and is
actively stabilised and can be tuned, at present from 400 nm to 1000 nm. It operates
at power levels of 0.5 mW 5 mW. Extension to longer wavelengths is planned.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the National Measurement Ofce of the UK Department of Business,
Innovation and Skills and by the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP). The fat
panel output optics are being developed by Polymer Optics Ltd.
References
1. Levick, A.P., C.L Greenwell et al. Spectral Radiance Source Based on Supercontinuum Laser
and Wavelength Tunable Bandpass Filter: The Spectrally Tunable Absolute Irradiance and
Radiance Source. Applied Optics 53, no. 16 (2014): 3508-3519.
2. J. T. Woodward, A. W. Smith, C. A. Jenkins, C. S. Lin, S. W. Brown and K. R. Lykke,
Supercontinuum sources for metrology, Metrologia, 46, S277-S282, 2009.
3. S. Blais-Ouellette, E. H. Wishnow, P. L. Shopbell, W. van Breugel, K. Taylor and R. Smith, Double
Bragg grating tunable flter, Spie-Int Soc Optical Engineering, 2004.
The spectrally tuneable absolute
irradiance and radiance source (STAIRS)
Andrew Levick, Claire Greenwell, Jane Ireland, Emma Woolliams, Teresa Goodman and Nigel Fox
National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, United Kingdom
Corresponding e-mail address: claire.greenwell@npl.co.uk
Figure 1. A typical setup for the STAIRS system.
Figure 4: Polymer Optics at panel source, (a) without and (b) with laser light input
(a) (b)
Figure 2. Measurement with a photodiode that is independent of the feedback system, of the
stability of the STAIRS laser, (a) when not stabilised, (b) when actively stabilised. (c) and (d) are the
corresponding Allan Deviation plots. The gradient in (c) indicates drift, while that in (d) indicates
white noise.
Figure 3. The supercontinuum laser coupled into a small integrating sphere via bre and LLTF, which
was tuned to a selection of wavelengths.
450 nm 500 nm 550 nm 600 nm 650 nm
control laptop shielding
LLTF
laser output
(coupled to bre)
super continuum laser