Active Wavelength Control of an External Cavity Quantum Cascade Laser

We present an active wavelength control system for grating-based external cavity lasers that increases the accuracy of predicting the lasing wavelength based on the grating equation and significantly improves scan-to-scan wavelength/frequency repeatability. The ultimate 3σ precision of a frequency scan is determined by the scan-to-scan repeatability of 0.042 cm^-1. Since this control method can be applied to any external cavity laser with little to no modification, such a precision provides an excellent opportunity for spectroscopic applications that target molecular absorption lines at standard atmospheric conditions.