Open AccessHigh-precision molecular interrogation by direct referencing of a quantum-cascade-laser to a near-infrared frequency comb
Author(s) -
Davide Gatti,
Giovanni Alessio,
Antonio Castrillo,
G. Galzerano,
P. Laporta,
L. Gianfrani,
Marco Marangoni
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.017520
Subject(s) - quantum cascade laser , cascade , laser , optics , frequency comb , quantum , materials science , interrogation , physics , chemistry , chromatography , quantum mechanics , archaeology , history
This work presents a very simple yet effective way to obtain direct referencing of a quantum-cascade-laser at 4.3 μm to a near-IR frequency-comb. Precise tuning of the comb repetition-rate allows the quantum-cascade-laser to be scanned across absorption lines of a CO2 gaseous sample and line profiles to be acquired with extreme reproducibility and accuracy. By averaging over 50 acquisitions, line-centre frequencies are retrieved with an uncertainty of 30 kHz in a linear interaction regime. The extension of this methodology to other lines and molecules, by the use of widely tunable extended-cavity quantum-cascade-lasers, paves the way to a wide availability of high-quality and traceable spectroscopic data in the most crucial region for molecular detection and interrogation.