Cavity-Enhanced Dual-Comb Spectroscopy for Detection of Traces of Biological and Chemical Molecules

Abstract

An optical frequency comb is a pulsed laser whose spectrum consists of an array of equally spaced narrow lines sometimes covering 100s of nanometers of optical bandwidth. Using optical frequency combs enables us to achieve both high sensitivity and wide spectral coverage for detecting trace amounts of biological and/or chemical molecules. By coupling the light from an optical frequency comb to a cavity which acts as an enhancement resonator, the effective interaction length between the laser light and the gas sample is significantly increased. In this way, a 10,000-fold increase in effective interaction path length can be achieved. In this talk, a near-infrared (NIR) cavity-enhanced dual-comb spectrometer which combines the benefits of optical frequency combs and an enhancement cavity will be introduced. We will present recent advancements as well as performance metrics we will obtain in the future.

Date
Sep 27, 2016 3:30 PM — 4:30 PM
Location
Bechtel Collaboratory, Discovery Learning Center
Engineering Center, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309
NAZANIN HOGHOOGHI

University of Colorado Boulder