Suppressing the Multiplex Disadvantage in Photon-Noise Limited Interferometry Using Cross-Dispersed Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometry.

Abstract

Spatial heterodyne spectrometers are members of the static Fourier transform class of spectrometers, well-regarded for their ability to acquire high-resolution, high wavelength precision emission spectra in compact, light footprint packages. In a spatial heterodyne spectrometer experiment, a Fizeau fringe is generated for every spectral feature in a given spectrum, and spatial heterodyne spectrometer records the superposition of all Fizeau fringes in the spectrum on a detector. Hence, the sensitivity of spatial heterodyne spectrometers is constrained by uncorrelated, multiplicative photon noise that limits the detection of spectral features to those that are more luminous than the square root of the total incident flux onto the detector. In essence, powerful spectral features create a rising floor of noise that wash out less luminous features. In the present work, we introduce a novel spectrometer coupling, that being an Amici prism spectrometer in series with spatial heterodyne spectrometer, that correlates photon shot noise along one axis of a detector that in turn suppresses multiplicative photon noise within each row of the interferogram image. We demonstrate that this spectrometer pairing facilitates the measurement of weak Raman spectral features that, in a traditional spatial heterodyne spectrometer measurement, would be washed out by multiplicative photon noise.