Broadband Spectral Measurements Research Articles

Ultrahigh-resolution broadband spectrometer based on grating-beamsplitter interferometer

An ultrahigh-resolution broadband spectrometer based on a grating-beamsplitter interferometer is presented, in which a transmission grating serves not only as a beamsplitter for the interferometer but also as a dispersive element to divide a wide spectral band into multiple narrow spectral bands. The distinctive design reduces the number of optical components of the instrument and simplifies the structure of the instrument. For one scan period, this spectrometer generates multiple interferograms simultaneously, each interferogram covering a separate wavelength range is received by a separate pixel of the linear detector, and the sum of the spectra recovered from all interferograms constitutes a continuous broadband spectrum. The relevant formulas and preliminary design calculation are provided. The simulation is shown by two examples within the spectral range from 300 nm to 500 nm and 900 nm to 1600 nm. This spectrometer will be suitable for ultrahigh-resolution broadband spectral measurements.

Calibration-free thickness and temperature measurement of oil films using broadband near-infrared absorption spectroscopy

Abstract This paper assesses broadband absorption spectroscopy for calibration-free, single-ended thickness and temperature measurements of thin liquid films with a free interface using spectrally resolved intensity measurements. The spectroscopic properties of the liquid in question, here an oil lubricant, are characterized using a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. This data forms the basis for a measurement model that is used to infer the thickness and temperature of films wetting metal surfaces based on broadband spectral transmission measurements. The technique is demonstrated by inferring the properties of static films of known properties as well as free films on a rotating metal disk.

Auto Aligning, Error-Compensated Broadband Collimated Transmission Spectroscopy.

Broadband spectral measurements of the ballistic transmission of scattering samples are challenging. The presented work shows an approach that includes a broadband system and an automated adjustment unit for compensation of angular distortions caused by non-plane-parallel samples. The limits of the system in terms of optimal transmission and detected forward scattering influenced by the scattering phase function are investigated. We built and validated a setup that measures the collimated transmission signal in a spectral range from 300 nm to 2150 nm. The system was validated using polystyrene spheres and Mie calculations. The limits of the system in terms of optimal transmission and detected forward scattering were researched. The optimal working parameters of the system, analyzed by simulations using the Monte Carlo method, show that the transmission should be larger than 10% and less than 90% to allow for a reliable measurement with acceptable errors caused by noise and systematic errors of the system. The optimal transmission range is between 25% and 50%. We show that the phase function is important when considering the accuracy of the measurement. For strongly forward-scattering samples, errors of up to 80% can be observed, even for a very small numerical aperture of 6.6·10-4, as used in our experimental system. We also show that errors increase with optical thickness as the ballistic transmission decreases and the multiscattered fraction increases. In addition, errors caused by multiple reflections in the sample layer were analyzed and also classified as relevant for classical absorption spectroscopy.

Broadband Spectral Measurement of Formaldehyde Molecules near 3.5 μm Based on Optical Frequency Comb Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Broadband Spectral Measurement of Formaldehyde Molecules near 3.5 μm Based on Optical Frequency Comb Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Theoretical analysis of a multi-grating-based cross-dispersed spatial heterodyne spectrometer.

This paper presents a multi-grating-based cross-dispersed spatial heterodyne spectrometer (MGCDSHS). The principle of generation of two-dimensional interferograms for two cases, where the light beam is diffracted by one sub-grating or two sub-gratings, is given and equations for the interferogram parameters in these two cases are derived. An instrument design with numerical simulations is presented that demonstrates the spectrometer's ability to simultaneously record separate interferograms corresponding to different spectral features with high resolution over a broad spectral range. The design solves the mutual interference problem caused by overlapping of the interferograms, and also provides the high spectral resolution and broad spectral measurement range that cannot be achieved using conventional SHSs. Additionally, by introducing cylindrical lens groups, the MGCDSHS solves the throughput loss and light intensity reduction problems caused by direct use of multi-gratings. The MGCDSHS is compact, highly stable, and high-throughput. These advantages make the MGCDSHS suitable for high-sensitivity, high-resolution, and broadband spectral measurements.

Absolute angular position measurement by dual-comb spectroscopy of an autocollimation diffracted beam.

The dual-comb technique is a powerful tool in industrial inspection and scientific research and is capable of realizing ultrahigh-resolution and fast broadband spectral measurements. We propose an absolute angular-position measurement method based on dual-comb spectroscopy. With a simple layout, the absolute angular position can be naturally determined through the traceable and wide-amplitude spectra of the autocollimation diffracted beams of the target grating. We experimentally demonstrate that a precision of 0.12 arcsec in the dynamic range of approximately 6660 arcsec, along with a 1 kHz repetition rate difference, is achieved. Compared with a commercial autocollimator, over 1000 arcsec, the comparison residuals are kept within ±0.3 arcsec.

High-Resolution and Broadband Spectral Measurement of CO2 Based on Virtually Imaged Phased Array Spectrometer

High-Resolution and Broadband Spectral Measurement of CO2 Based on Virtually Imaged Phased Array Spectrometer

Echelle Grating Spectroscopic Technology for High-Resolution and Broadband Spectral Measurement

Echelle grating provides high spectral resolving power and diffraction efficiency in a broadband wavelength range by the Littrow mode. The spectrometer with the cross-dispersed echelle scheme has seen remarkable growth in recent decades. Rather than the conventional approach with common blazed grating, the cross-dispersed echelle scheme achieves the two-dimensional spatial distribution of the spectrum by one exposure without scanning in the broadband spectral range. It is the fastest and most sensitive spectroscopic technology as of now, and it has been extensively applied in commercial and astronomical spectrometers. In this review, we first highlight the characteristics of the echelle and then present the optical layout, detection approach, and method of calibration. Finally, we discuss the state-of-the-art implementations and applications of commercial and astronomical instruments.

Dual-comb photothermal spectroscopy

Dual-comb spectroscopy (DCS) has revolutionized optical spectroscopy by providing broadband spectral measurements with unprecedented resolution and fast response. Photothermal spectroscopy (PTS) with a pump-probe configuration offers a highly sensitive gas sensing method, which is normally performed using a single-wavelength pump laser. The merging of PTS with DCS may enable a spectroscopic method by taking advantage of both technologies, which has never been studied yet. Here, we report dual-comb photothermal spectroscopy (DC-PTS) by passing dual combs and a probe laser through a gas-filled anti-resonant hollow-core fiber, where the generated multi-heterodyne modulation of the refractive index is sensitively detected by an in-line interferometer. As an example, we have measured photothermal spectra of acetylene over 1 THz, showing a good agreement with the spectral database. Our proposed DC-PTS provides opportunities for broadband gas sensing with super-fine resolution and high sensitivity, as well as with a small sample volume and compact configuration.

208-µs single-shot multi-molecular sensing with spectrum-encoded dual-comb spectroscopy.

Dual-comb spectroscopy (DCS) is a powerful spectroscopic technique, which is developing for the detection of transient species in reaction kinetics on a short time scale. Conventionally, the simultaneous determination of multiple species is limited to the requirement of broadband spectral measurement at the cost of the measurement speed and spectral resolution owing to the inherent trade-off among these characteristics in DCS. In this study, a high-speed multi-molecular sensing is demonstrated and achieved through using a programmable spectrum-encoded DCS technique, where multiple narrow encoding spectral bands are reserved selectively and other comb lines are filtered out. As a dual-comb spectrometer with a repetition rate of 108 MHz is encoded spectrally over a spectral coverage range of 1520 to 1580 nm, the measurement speed is increased 6.15 times and single-shot absorption spectra of multiple molecules (C2H2, HCN, CO, CO2) at a time scale of 208 µs are obtained. Compared to conventional single-shot dual-comb spectra, encoded dual-comb spectra have improved short-term signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) by factors of 3.65 with four encoding bands and 5.68 with two encoding bands. Furthermore, a fiber-Bragg-grating-based encoded DCS is demonstrated, which reaches 17.1 times higher average SNR than that of the unencoded DCS. This spectrum-encoded technique can largely improve the DCS measurement speed, and thus is promising for use in studies on multi-species reaction kinetics.

Resolving nonuniform temperature distributions with single-beam absorption spectroscopy. Part II: Implementation from broadband spectra

Several past studies have described how absorption spectroscopy can be used to determine spatial temperature variations along the optical path by measuring the unique, nonlinear response to temperature of many molecular absorption transitions and performing an inversion. New laser absorption spectroscopy techniques are well-suited to this nonuniformity measurement, yet present analysis approaches use only isolated features rather than a full broadband spectral measurement. In this work, we develop a constrained spectral fitting technique called E″-binning to fit an absorption spectrum arising from a nonuniform environment. The information extracted from E″-binning is then input to the inversion approach from the previous paper in this series (Malarich and Rieker, JQSRT 107455 [1]) to determine the temperature distribution. We demonstrate this approach by using dual frequency comb laser measurements to resolve convection cells in a tube furnace. The recovered temperature distributions at each measurement height agree with an existing natural convection model. Finally, we show that for real-world measurements with noise and absorption model error, increasing the bandwidth and the number of measured absorption transitions may improve the temperature distribution precision. We make the fitting code publicly available for use with any broadband absorption measurement.

Experimental demonstration of spectral domain computational ghost imaging

We demonstrate computational spectral-domain ghost imaging by encoding complementary Fourier patterns directly onto the spectrum of a superluminescent laser diode using a programmable spectral filter. Spectral encoding before the object enables uniform spectral illumination across the beam profile, removing the need for light collection optics and yielding increased signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, the use of complementary Fourier patterns allows reduction of deleterious of parasitic light effects. As a proof-of-concept, we measure the wavelength-dependent transmission of a Michelson interferometer and a wavelength-division multiplexer. Our results open new perspectives for remote broadband spectral measurements.

Measurement of L-shell emission from mid-Z targets under non-LTE conditions using Transmission Grating Spectrometer and DANTE power diagnostics.

In this work, we present the measurement of L-band emission from buried Sc/V targets in experiments performed at the OMEGA laser facility. The goal of these experiments was to study non-local thermodynamic equilibrium plasmas and benchmark atomic physics codes. The L-band emission was measured simultaneously by the time resolved DANTE power diagnostic and the recently fielded time integrated Soreq-Transmission Grating Spectrometer (TGS) diagnostic. The TGS measurement was used to support the spectral reconstruction process needed for the unfolding of the DANTE data. The Soreq-TGS diagnostic allows for broadband spectral measurement in the 120 eV-2000 eV spectral band, covering L- and M-shell emission of mid- and high-Z elements, with spectral resolution λ/Δλ = 8-30 and accuracy better than 25%. The Soreq-TGS diagnostic is compatible with ten-inch-manipulator platforms and can be used for a wide variety of high energy density physics, laboratory astrophysics, and inertial confinement fusion experiments.

Complementary vibrational spectroscopy

Vibrational spectroscopy, comprised of infrared absorption and Raman scattering spectroscopy, is widely used for label-free optical sensing and imaging in various scientific and industrial fields. The two molecular spectroscopy methods are sensitive to different types of vibrations and provide complementary vibrational spectra, but obtaining complete vibrational information with a single spectroscopic device is challenging due to the large wavelength discrepancy between the two methods. Here, we demonstrate simultaneous infrared absorption and Raman scattering spectroscopy that allows us to measure the complete broadband vibrational spectra in the molecular fingerprint region with a single instrument based on an ultrashort pulsed laser. The system is based on dual-modal Fourier-transform spectroscopy enabled by efficient use of nonlinear optical effects. Our proof-of-concept experiment demonstrates rapid, broadband and high spectral resolution measurements of complementary spectra of organic liquids for precise and accurate molecular analysis.

Study of backward terahertz radiation from intense picosecond laser–solid interactions using a multichannel calorimeter system

A multichannel calorimeter system is designed and constructed which is capable of delivering single-shot and broad-band spectral measurement of terahertz (THz) radiation generated in intense laser–plasma interactions. The generation mechanism of backward THz radiation (BTR) is studied by using the multichannel calorimeter system in an intense picosecond laser–solid interaction experiment. The dependence of the BTR energy and spectrum on laser energy, target thickness and pre-plasma scale length is obtained. These results indicate that coherent transition radiation is responsible for the low-frequency component (${<}$1 THz) of BTR. It is also observed that a large-scale pre-plasma primarily enhances the high-frequency component (${>}$3 THz) of BTR.

Shock Tube Demonstration of Acousto-Optically Modulated Quantum Cascade Laser as a Broadband, Time-Resolved Combustion Diagnostic

We provide the first demonstration of an acousto-optically modulated quantum cascade laser (AOM QCL) system as a diagnostic for combustion by measuring nitric oxide (NO), a highly regulated emission produced in gas turbines. The system provides time-resolved broadband spectral measurements of the present gas species via a single line of sight measurement, offering advantages over widely used narrowband absorption spectroscopy (e.g., the potential for simultaneous multispecies measurements using a single laser) and considerably faster (>15 kHz rates and potentially up to MHz) than sampling techniques, which employ fourier transform infrared (FTIR) or GC/MS. The developed AOM QCL system yields fast tunable output covering a spectral range of 1725–1930 cm−1 with a linewidth of 10–15 cm−1. For the demonstration experiment, the AOM QCL system has been used to obtain time-resolved spectral measurements of NO formation during the shock heating of mixture of a 10% nitrous oxide (N2O) in a balance of argon over a temperature range of 1245–2517 K and a pressure range of 3.6–5.8 atm. Results were in good agreement with chemical kinetic simulations. The system shows revolutionary promise for making simultaneous time-resolved measurements of multiple species concentrations and temperature with a single line of sight measurement.

Monolithically, widely tunable quantum cascade lasers based on a heterogeneous active region design.

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) have become important laser sources for accessing the mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral range, achieving watt-level continuous wave operation in a compact package at room temperature. However, up to now, wavelength tuning, which is desirable for most applications, has relied on external cavity feedback or exhibited a limited monolithic tuning range. Here we demonstrate a widely tunable QCL source over the 6.2 to 9.1 μm wavelength range with a single emitting aperture by integrating an eight-laser sampled grating distributed feedback laser array with an on-chip beam combiner. The laser gain medium is based on a five-core heterogeneous QCL wafer. A compact tunable laser system was built to drive the individual lasers within the array and produce any desired wavelength within the available spectral range. A rapid, broadband spectral measurement (520 cm−1) of methane using the tunable laser source shows excellent agreement to a measurement made using a standard low-speed infrared spectrometer. This monolithic, widely tunable laser technology is compact, with no moving parts, and will open new opportunities for MIR spectroscopy and chemical sensing.

Broadband spectral transmittance measurements of complex thin-film filters with optical densities of up to 12.

A new transmittance measurement setup, based on the use of a tunable laser source and a low-noise scientific-grade CCD camera operating in perfect integration mode, is proposed to achieve the spectrally resolved characterization of thin-film filters with optical densities from 0 to 12 in a wavelength range between 400 and 1000nm. The first experimental results obtained on dedicated components demonstrate the efficiency of this new measurement scheme.

用于脉冲压缩光栅的宽带高分辨率光谱测量技术

用于脉冲压缩光栅的宽带高分辨率光谱测量技术

Star‐forming galaxies observed with X‐shooter

AbstractIn the last couple of decades hundreds of studies have explored the nature of star‐forming galaxies at different redshifts. This contribution focuses on X‐shooter observations of star‐burst galaxies at 0 < z < 6 from commissioning runs, science verification, and regular observations, and demonstrates the capability of the new instrument in this competitive field. Observations of gravitationally lensed galaxies show that X‐shooter has no limitation in the redshift desert (1.4 < z < 2) where the strong optical emission lines are shifted to the near‐IR region. Physical properties of galaxies, such as masses, metallicities, abundance ratios, and star formation rates can be derived from observations with relatively short integration times for faint galaxies. The simultaneous UV to near‐IR spectral coverage makes derivation of physical quantities more reliable because there are no differential slit losses as may occur when observations from different optical and near‐IR instruments are used. Over the entire redshift range, spectra of faint galaxies will allow us to better measure stellar ages and dominating ionisation sources compared to broad band spectral energy distribution measurements (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)