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Noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy: a sensitive technique for high-resolution broadband molecular detection

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Abstract

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy (NICE-OFCS) is a recently developed technique that utilizes phase modulation to obtain immunity to frequency-to-amplitude noise conversion by the cavity modes and yields high absorption sensitivity over a broad spectral range. We describe the principles of the technique and discuss possible comb-cavity matching solutions. We present a theoretical description of NICE-OFCS signals detected with a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) and validate the model by comparing it to experimental CO2 spectra around 1,575 nm. Our system is based on an Er:fiber femtosecond laser locked to a cavity and phase-modulated at a frequency equal to a multiple of the cavity free spectral range (FSR). The NICE-OFCS signal is detected by a fast-scanning FTS equipped with a high-bandwidth commercial detector. We demonstrate a simple method of passive locking of the modulation frequency to the cavity FSR that significantly improves the long-term stability of the system, allowing averaging times on the order of minutes. Using a cavity with a finesse of ~9,000, we obtain absorption sensitivity of 6.4 × 10−11 cm−1 Hz−1∕2 per spectral element and concentration detection limit for CO2 of 450 ppb Hz−1/2, determined by multiline fitting.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the Swedish Research Council (621-2012-3650), Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (ICA12-0031), the Carl Trygger’s Foundation (CTS12:131), and the Faculty of Science and Technology, Umeå University. The authors thank Piotr Masłowski, Ticijana Ban, and Ove Axner for useful discussions about the NICE-OFCS principles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    Amir Khodabakhsh, Alexandra C. Johansson & Aleksandra Foltynowicz

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  1. Amir Khodabakhsh
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  2. Alexandra C. Johansson
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  3. Aleksandra Foltynowicz
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Correspondence to Aleksandra Foltynowicz.

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Khodabakhsh, A., Johansson, A.C. & Foltynowicz, A. Noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy: a sensitive technique for high-resolution broadband molecular detection. Appl. Phys. B 119, 87–96 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-015-6010-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-015-6010-7

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