Broadband 2.5-6μm frequency comb source for dual-comb molecular spectroscopy

Abstract

Absorption spectroscopy with frequency combs in the molecular fingerprint portion of the spectrum (2-10 μm) has great potential for trace molecular detection and in particular for such applications as monitoring of the atmosphere and medical breath analysis. Especially attractive is dual-comb Fourier transform spectroscopy where full advantage is taken of temporal and spatial coherence of frequency combs as well as of their broadband nature. The promise is high speed, broad spectral coverage, superior sensitivity, high spectral resolution, and the possibility of absolute frequency calibration of molecular resonances. Here we report a system suitable for performing dual-comb spectroscopy in the range of 2.5-6 μm and beyond. Broadband mid-IR frequency combs are obtained via a doubly-resonant near-degenerate synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on orientation-patterned GaAs (OP-GaAs) pumped by a femtosecond Tm-fiber laser at 2-μm wavelength. Low pump threshold (7 mW), high coherence, and broad instantaneous spectral coverage make this system extremely promising for spectroscopic studies.