As a reminder, SWIFTSTM principle consists in a waveguide in which a stationary wave is created, sampled and read out by a linear image sensor array. Due to its inherent properties (non-uniform subsampling) and aliasing signal (as presented in Shannon-Nyquist criterion), the system offers short spectral window bandwidths thus needs an a priori on the working wavelength and thermal monitoring. Although SWIFTSTM-based devices are barely sensitive to atmospheric pressure, temperature control is a key factor to master both high accuracy and wavelength meter resolution. Temperature control went from passive (temperature probing only) to active control (Peltier thermoelectric cooler) with milli-degree accuracy. The software part consists in dropping the Fourier-like transform, for a least-squares method directly on the interference pattern. Moreover, the consideration of the system’s chromatic behavior provides a "signature" for automated wavelength detection and discrimination. This SWIFTSTM-based new device - LW-10 - shows outstanding results in terms of absolute accuracy, wavelength meter resolution as well as calibration robustness within a compact device, compared to other existing technologies. On the 630 – 1100 nm range, the final device configuration allows pulsed or CW lasers monitoring with 20 MHz resolution and 200 MHz absolute accuracy. Non-exhaustive applications include tunable laser control and frequency locking experiments |
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