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Frequency-agile dual-comb spectroscopy

Nature Photonics volume 10, pages 27–30 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Spectroscopic gas sensing and its applications to, for example, trace detection or chemical kinetics, require ever more demanding measurement times, acquisition rates, sensitivities, precisions and broad tuning ranges. Here, we propose a new approach to near-infrared molecular spectroscopy, utilizing advanced concepts of optical telecommunications and supercontinuum photonics. We generate, without mode-locked lasers, two frequency combs of slightly different repetition frequencies and moderate, but rapidly tunable, spectral span. The output of a frequency-agile continuous-wave laser is split and sent into two electro-optic intensity modulators. Flat-top low-noise frequency combs are produced by wave-breaking in a nonlinear optical fibre of normal dispersion. With a dual-comb spectrometer, we record Doppler-limited spectra spanning 60 GHz within 13 μs and an 80 kHz refresh rate, at a tuning speed of 10 nm s−1. The sensitivity for weak absorption is enhanced by a long gas-filled hollow-core fibre. New opportunities for real-time diagnostics may be opened up, even outside the laboratory.

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Figure 1: Experimental set-up for dual-comb spectroscopy with a single laser diode.
Figure 2: Low-resolution optical spectra at the input and output of the normal-dispersion optical fibre.
Figure 3: Experimental interferogram and spectra with resolved comb lines.
Figure 4: Portions of experimental dual-comb molecular spectra.
Figure 5: Short measurement times and spectroscopic validation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank J. Fatome, G. Fanjoux, C. Finot and P. Morin for discussions and advice. The authors acknowledge financial support from IXCORE Fondation pour la Recherche, PARI PHOTCOM Région Bourgogne, Labex ACTION, the French National Research Agency (ANR-12-BS04-0011 OPTIROC), FP7-ERC-Multicomb (Grant 267854) and the Munich Center for Advanced Photonics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne, UMR 6303 CNRS – Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 9 Avenue A. Savary, Dijon, F-21078, France

    Guy Millot, Stéphane Pitois, Tatevik Hovhannisyan & Abdelkrim Bendahmane

  2. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Fakultät für Physik, Schellingstrasse 4/III, Munich, D-80799, Germany

    Ming Yan, Theodor W. Hänsch & Nathalie Picqué

  3. Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermannstrasse 1, Garching, D-85748, Germany

    Ming Yan, Theodor W. Hänsch & Nathalie Picqué

  4. Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay (ISMO), CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, F-91405, France

    Nathalie Picqué

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  1. Guy Millot
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  3. Ming Yan
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All authors contributed significantly to this work.

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Correspondence to Guy Millot or Nathalie Picqué.

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Millot, G., Pitois, S., Yan, M. et al. Frequency-agile dual-comb spectroscopy. Nature Photon 10, 27–30 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.250

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