Femtosecond optical parametric oscillators toward real-time dual-comb spectroscopy
Y. Jin, S. M. Cristescu, F. J. M. Harren, J. Mandon
We demonstrate mid-infrared dual-comb spectroscopy with an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) toward real-time field measurement. A singly resonant OPO based on a MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal is demonstrated. Chirped mirrors are used to compensate the dispersion caused by the optical cavity and the crystal. A low threshold of 17 mW has been achieved. The OPO source generates a tunable idler frequency comb between 2.7 and 4.7 ?m. Dual-comb spectroscopy is achieved by coupling two identical Yb-fiber mode-locked lasers to this OPO with slightly different repetition frequencies. A measured absorption spectrum of methane is presented with a spectral bandwidth of 300cm?1, giving an instrumental resolution of 0.4cm?1. In addition, a second OPO containing two MgO-doped PPLN crystals in a singly resonant ring cavity is demonstrated. As such, this OPO generates two idler combs (average power up to 220 mW), covering a wavelength range between 2.7 and 4.2 ?m, from which a mid-infrared dual-comb Fourier transform spectrometer is constructed. By detecting the heterodyned signal between the two idler combs, broadband spectra of molecular gases can be observed over a spectral bandwidth of more than 350cm?1. This special cavity design allows the spectral resolution to be improved to 0.2cm?1 without locking the OPO cavity, indicating that this OPO represents an ideal high-power broadband mid-infrared source for real-time gas sensing.
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