NLIR
Nonlinear Infrared Sensors
NLIR is a start-up company founded by 3 researchers at the Department of Photonics Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU Fotonik) and NLIR’s CEO. NLIR is based on the novel patented upconversion technology invented by its founders at DTU Fotonik.
The core of the upconversion technology is a non-linear crystal that converts mid infrared light to near visible light. This enables the use of fast and efficient Silicon based sensors for detection of MIR light.
The non-linear mid infrared spectrometer implementation represents a revolutionary new measurement paradigm. The company is named Non-Linear InfraRed sensors (NLIR) to highlight the products technological difference from todays leading MIR spectrometry method of Fourier-Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR).
NLIR target at several industry sectors: Oil and gas, Polymer, Food and Agriculture, Pharmaceutical, Chemical, Medical Diagnostic and Environmental.
MIR UP-convertion Spectrometers
NLIR_S2050_Mid-Infrared Spectrometer
Spectrometer Details
Developers in both industry and research use mid-infrared (MIR) spectrometers for non-invasive characterization of gases, liquids, and solids as well as characterization of light sources. The NLIR 2.0 – 5.0 µm Spectrometer (S2050-400/S2050-130k) is based on a novel measurement scheme that upconverts the MIR light to near-visible light. Silicon-based near-visible light detectors are far superior to MIR light detectors in terms of detectivity, speed, and noise. The NLIR upconversion technology, therefore, brings these attractive features and the advantages that follow, to the MIR regime.
Both editions seen below have sensitivities at -80 dBm/nm or better, and the maximum full-spectrum readout rate is 130 kHz! As a result, the spectrometer enables the characterization of light sources and measuring spectral content from chemical processes with a time resolution of less than 10 µs.
The NLIR S2050 spectrometers cover a broad part of the MIR spectrum where the spectral fingerprints of many C-H bonds of gases are located together with those of a number of other common gases. Many plastics (independent of color) also absorb in this MIR region, which makes indentification easily accessible
Key features
- Up to 130 kHz full-spectrum readout rate
- -80 dBm/nm sensitivity
- 2.0 – 5.0 μm bandwidth
- Fiber-coupled input
- Plug-n-play
Key applications:
- Black plastic sorting
- Gas concentration measurements
- Polymer identification
- Petrochemical analysis
- Broadband IR coating quality control
- MIR super-continuum light measurements
NLIR Interface I TOUCH
The NLIR TOUCH Interface is a measurement instrument that helps easily bring light to and from a sample when performing reflection measurements. It has a built-in wide-band light source, and after being reflected on the sample, the light is coupled into a connected fiber to conveniently bring it anywhere. The TOUCH Interface is designed to work with differently shaped sample surfaces while at the same time minimize background signal.
MIR Detectors
NLIR_D2250_Single Wavelength Detector
The NLIR MIR light detector is based on a novel measurement scheme that upconverts the MIR light to the near-visible regime. Near-visible light detectors (based on for example Si) are far superior to MIR light detectors in terms of efficiency, speed and noise.
- Single-wavelength detection from 2.2 - 5.0 µm
- Tuning optional
- Down to 10fW/√Hz noise-equivalent power
- DC - 10 GHz bandwith
- Plug-and-play
- Based on novel upconversion technology
Key applications:
- Nanosecond pulse characterisation
- Low-power MIR light detection
- Detection of gas lines
- Free-space communication
- DIAL (differential absorption LIDAR)
- Chemical kinetics
Product Details
The core of the NLIR technology is the wavelength conversion module that upconverts mid-infrared wavelengths to near-visible, enabling the use of Si and GaAs detectors.
Read more about how the conversion works in “Technology”.
Accepted wavelengths are in the bandwidth 1.9 – 5.3 µm, and they are upconverted to the bandwidth 682 nm – 886 nm by a 1064 nm high-power laser inside a LiNbO3 crystal. Only the vertical polarization component is upconverted, which may reduce the amount of signal converted but correspondingly it also reduces the converted noise to half. After conversion, efficient spectral filtering below 695 nm and above 886 nm cuts away residual noise.
Near-visible light detectors exist with many different combinations of specifications and what detector to choose depends on the desired application.
MIR Light Source
NLIR_Thermal Infrared Light Source
Product Overview
- 1.2 – 8.0 μm wavelength range
- > 5 mW power in 500 μm fiber
- Stability better than +/- 0.5%
- 5,000 hours lifetime
- Active cooling
- Fiber-coupled
Product Details
Thermal infrared light source directly to your sample in an optical fiber.
Infrared light or infrared radiation sources are used in a variety of applications and measurements. Compared to other light sources, high-temperature IR light sources are relatively cheap and require only simple electronics; they emit high-power light that is stable and reliable. However, due to the nature of the warm emitter, the light is incoherent and emitted in all directions, which makes it difficult to guide and focus the light onto a sample with high intensity.
NLIR’s fiber-coupled IR light source makes it easy to bring MIR light to a sample either by positioning the fiber tip close to the sample or by using one of the many commercially available fiber-probes.
The light source is plug-and-play, turns on in a few seconds, and is actively cooled so that no parts are too warm to touch.
NLIR Wavelength Conversion Modul
Product Details
The core of the NLIR technology is the wavelength conversion module that upconverts mid-infrared wavelengths to near-visible, enabling the use of Si and GaAs detectors.
Read more about how the conversion works in “Technology”.
Accepted wavelengths are in the bandwidth 1.9 – 5.3 µm, and they are upconverted to the bandwidth 682 nm – 886 nm by a 1064 nm high-power laser inside a LiNbO3 crystal. Only the vertical polarization component is upconverted, which may reduce the amount of signal converted but correspondingly it also reduces the converted noise to half. After conversion, efficient spectral filtering below 695 nm and above 886 nm cuts away residual noise.
The translation to near-visible wavelengths gives further advantages than lower noise-equivalent power. Higher detection speed than conventional MIR detectors is readily available by just plugging the output fiber into a GHz GaAs detector; 10 GHz or even 25 GHz detectors are available off-the-shelf. Even further, standard near-visible light detectors often come pre-amplified with a response of up to GV/W, which eases the measurement of the electrical output.
The NLIR wavelength conversion module is an extremely versatile tool for any mid-infrared laboratory. Flexibility in mid-infrared measurement equipment is often desirable but expensive to buy. With the wavelength conversion module many different affordable detectors and spectrometers become available, and in many cases, it even gives better performance than using expensive conventional mid-infrared detectors.
