Grating-Stabilized External Cavity Diode Lasers for Raman Spectroscopy-A Review

Conventional Raman techniques require a continuous-wave laser with stabilized wavelength, narrow line width, and sufficient output power. Due to their miniature size and low cost, diode lasers are good choice as light sources for Raman spectroscopy, especially when compact and portable instruments are needed. However, a solitary multimode diode laser has certain drawbacks that limit its use for Raman application. To circumvent these drawbacks, an external cavity can be coupled to the active gain medium of the diode to enhance the laser performance. A grating-based external cavity allows the laser to operate in a single longitudinal mode with greatly reduced line width and stabilized wavelength. This article examines the fundamentals of semiconductor lasers to show the necessity of operating diode lasers in an external cavity for Raman applications. Two feedback grating-based external cavity diode laser (ECDL) designs, viz. Littrow and Littman-Metcalf configurations, are explained. Historic and recent progress in the development of ECDL devices is reported. An updated summary of ECDL-equipped Raman systems applied to fields such as in vivo biomedical studies and in situ process/quality control is provided. Topics on mode-hop-free continuous scanning, wavelength stabilization, and dealing with ambient conditions are discussed.