Jonas Westberg

Mid-infrared multiheterodyne spectroscopy with phase-locked quantum cascade lasers

Fabry-Perot (FP) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) provide purely electronically controlled monolithic sources for broadband mid-infrared (mid-IR) multiheterodyne spectroscopy (MHS), which benefits from the large gain bandwidth of the QCLs without sacrificing the narrowband properties commonly associated with the single mode distributed feedback variant. We demonstrate a FP-QCL based multiheterodyne spectrometer with a short-term noise-equivalent absorption of ∼3 × 10−4/ H z, a mid-IR spectral coverage of 25 cm−1, and very short acquisition time (10 μs) capability. The broadband potential is demonstrated by measuring the absorption spectra of ammonia and isobutane under atmospheric pressure conditions. The stability of the system is enhanced by a two-stage active frequency inter-locking procedure, where the two QCLs are pre-locked with a slow feedback loop based on an analog frequency discriminator, followed by a high bandwidth optical phase-locked loop. The locking system provides a relative frequency stabil...

Molecular dispersion spectroscopy based on Fabry–Perot quantum cascade lasers

Two Fabry-Perot quantum cascade lasers are used in a differential dual comb configuration to perform rapidly swept dispersion spectroscopy of low-pressure nitrous oxide with <1  ms acquisition time. Active feedback control of the laser injection current enables simultaneous wavelength modulation of both lasers at kilohertz rates. The system demonstrates similar performance in both absorption and dispersion spectroscopy modes and achieves a noise-equivalent absorption figure of merit in the low 10-4/Hz range.

Wavelength modulated multiheterodyne spectroscopy using Fabry-Pérot quantum cascade lasers.

Multiheterodyne spectroscopy implemented with semiconductor Fabry-Pérot lasers is a method for broadband (> 20 cm-1), high spectral resolution (~1 MHz) and high time resolution (< 1 µs/spectrum) spectroscopy with no moving parts utilizing off-the-shelf laser sources. The laser stabilization approach demonstrated here enables continuous frequency tuning (at 12.5 Hz repetition rate) while allowing for multiheterodyne wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS). Spectroscopic detection of N2O around 1185 cm-1 is experimentally realized, which shows a direct absorption sensitivity limit of ~1.5⨯10-3/√Hz fractional absorption per mode. This can be lowered using WMS down to 5⨯10-4/√Hz per mode, limited by optical fringes. This approaches the range of sensitivities of standard single-mode laser based spectrometers, which demonstrates that the multiheterodyne method is well-suited for chemical sensing of spectrally broadened absorption features or for multi-species measurements.

Multi-heterodyne spectroscopy using Fabry-Perot interband cascade lasers for trace gas detection: a feasibility assessment

Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) have proven to be efficient semiconductor sources of coherent mid -infrared (mid-IR) radiation. Single mode distributed-feedback (DFB) ICLs are excellent high-resolution spectroscopic sources for targeting important molecular species in the mid-IR fingerprint region, but are limited to a narrow spectral tuning range. Recent developments in multi-heterodyne spectroscopy with multi-mode Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers have enabled significant progress towards broadband high-resolution spectroscopic sensing applications in the mid-infrared. Here, we characterize the mode structure and tuning properties of multi-mode FP-ICLs for the purpose of evaluating the feasibility of ICL-based multiheterodyne spectroscopy.

Multiheterodyne spectroscopy using interband cascade lasers

Abstract. While midinfrared radiation can be used to identify and quantify numerous chemical species, contemporary broadband midinfrared spectroscopic systems are often hindered by large footprints, moving parts, and high power consumption. In this work, we demonstrate multiheterodyne spectroscopy (MHS) using interband cascade lasers, which combines broadband spectral coverage with high spectral resolution and energy-efficient operation. The lasers generate up to 30 mW of continuous-wave optical power while consuming <0.5  W of electrical power. A computational phase and timing correction algorithm is used to obtain kHz linewidths of the multiheterodyne beat notes and up to 30 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio. The versatility of the multiheterodyne technique is demonstrated by performing both rapidly swept absorption and dispersion spectroscopic assessments of low-pressure ethylene (C2H4) acquired by extracting a single beat note from the multiheterodyne signal, as well as broadband MHS of methane (CH4) acquired with all available beat notes with microsecond temporal resolution and an instantaneous optical bandwidth of ∼240  GHz. The technology shows excellent potential for portable and high-resolution solid-state spectroscopic chemical sensors operating in the midinfrared.

Faraday rotation spectroscopy using an optical frequency comb

The mid-infrared (MIR) part of the optical spectrum (3–12 μm) houses the fundamental absorption bands of a multitude of environmentally important molecules, but the abundance of water absorption often causes interference with the target species and makes concentration measurement inaccurate. The broad spectral coverage of optical frequency comb spectroscopy (OFCS) provides access to entire ro-vibrational bands and allows more accurate concentration quantification and retrieval of sample temperature. To further improve detection sensitivity of paramagnetic species in the presence of interfering species, we combine a MIR optical frequency comb with the Faraday rotation spectroscopy (FRS) technique [I], which is insensitive to interferences from diamagnetic molecules, such as H2O, CO2, and CO. In FRS, the rotation of the polarization induced by an external magnetic field in the vicinity of paramagnetic molecular transitions is translated to an intensity change by the use of a polarization analyzer, which effectively removes the influence of any non-paramagnetic species. In the proof of principle demonstration of OFC-FRS we detect nitric oxide (NO) in the presence of water at 5.3 μm using a Fourier transform spectrometer.

Computational adaptive sampling for multiheterodyne spectroscopy

We present a fast computational technique based on digital filtering, mixing, and linear resampling to enable high resolution multiheterodyne spectroscopy in any dual-comb system affected by frequency instabilities of the laser sources.

Cavity attenuated phase shift Faraday rotation spectroscopy

A cavity attenuated phase shift Faraday rotation spectrometer has been developed for oxygen detection near 762 nm. The system incorporates a high-finesse cavity for sensitivity enhancement and achieves minimum detectible polarization rotation of 2×109 rad/√Hz.

Broadband mid-infrared and THz chemical detection with quantum cascade laser multi-heterodyne spectrometers (Conference Presentation)

Majority of chemical species of interest in security and safety applications (e.g. explosives) have complex molecular structures that produce unresolved rotational-vibrational spectroscopic signatures in the mid-infrared. This requires spectroscopic techniques that can provide broadband coverage in the mid-IR region to target broadband absorbers and high resolution to address small molecules that exhibit well-resolved spectral lines. On the other hand, many broadband mid-IR absorbers exhibit well-resolved rotational components in the THz spectral region. Thus, development of spectroscopic sensing technologies that can address both spectral regions is of great importance. Here we demonstrate recent progress towards broadband high-resolution spectroscopic sensing applications with Fabry-Perot quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) and frequency combs using multi-heterodyne spectroscopy (MHS) techniques. In this paper, we will present spectroscopic sensing of large and small molecules in the mid-IR region using QCLs operating at ~8.5µm. An example high-resolution, broadband MHS of ammonia (small molecule) and isobutane (broadband absorber) at atmospheric pressure in the 1165-1190 cm^-1 range will be discussed. We have developed a balanced MHS system for mitigation of the laser intensity fluctuations. Absorption spectroscopy as well as dispersion spectroscopy with minimum fractional absorption down to ~10^-4/Hz1/2 and fast spectral acquisition capabilities down to 10 µs/spectrum range will be demonstrated. In order to mitigate the shortcomings of the limited chemical selectivity in the mid-IR, THz QCL based spectrometer is currently under development to provide spectral de-congestion and thus significantly improve chemical identification. Preliminary characterization of the performance of THZ QCL combs for the THz QCL-MHS will be presented.

Tuning properties of mid-infrared Fabry-Pérot quantum cascade lasers for multiheterodyne spectroscopy

The paper presents the way that colour can serve solving the problem of calibration points indexing in a camera geometrical calibration process. We propose a technique in which indexes of calibration points in a black-and-white chessboard are represented as sets of colour regions in the neighbourhood of calibration points. We provide some general rules for designing a colour calibration chessboard and provide a method of calibration image analysis. We show that this approach leads to obtaining better results than in the case of widely used methods employing information about already indexed points to compute indexes. We also report constraints concerning the technique. Nowadays we are witnessing an increasing need for camera geometrical calibration systems. They are vital for such applications as 3D modelling, 3D reconstruction, assembly control systems, etc. Wherever possible, calibration objects placed in the scene are used in a camera geometrical calibration process. This approach significantly increases accuracy of calibration results and makes the calibration data extraction process easier and universal. There are many geometrical camera calibration techniques for a known calibration scene [1]. A great number of them use as an input calibration points which are localised and indexed in the scene. In this paper we propose the technique of calibration points indexing which uses a colour chessboard. The presented technique was developed by solving problems we encountered during experiments with our earlier methods of camera calibration scene analysis [2]-[3]. In particular, the proposed technique increases the number of indexed points points in case of local lack of calibration points detection. At the beginning of the paper we present a way of designing a chessboard pattern. Then we describe a calibration point indexing method, and finally we show experimental results. A black-and-white chessboard is widely used in order to obtain sub-pixel accuracy of calibration points localisation [1]. Calibration points are defined as corners of chessboard squares. Assuming the availability of rough localisation of these points, the points can be indexed. Noting that differences in distances between neighbouring points in calibration scene images differ slightly, one of the local searching methods can be employed (e.g. [2]). Methods of this type search for a calibration point to be indexed, using a window of a certain size. The position of the window is determined by a vector representing the distance between two previously indexed points in the same row or column. However, experiments show that this approach has its disadvantages, as described below. * E-mail: A.Nowakowski@ire.pw.edu.pl Firstly, there is a danger of omitting some points during indexing in case of local lack of calibration points detection in a neighbourhood (e.g. caused by the presence of non-homogeneous light in the calibration scene). A particularly unfavourable situation is when the local lack of detection effects in the appearance of separated regions of detected calibration points. It is worth saying that such situations are likely to happen for calibration points situated near image borders. Such points are very important for the analysis of optical nonlinearities, and a lack of them can significantly influence the accuracy of distortion modelling. Secondly, such methods may give wrong results in the case of optical distortion with strong nonlinearities when getting information about the neighbouring index is not an easy task. Beside this, the methods are very sensitive to a single false localisation of a calibration point. Such a single false localisation can even result in false indexing of a big set of calibration points. To avoid the above-mentioned problems, we propose using a black-and-white chessboard which contains the coded index of a calibration point in the form of colour squares situated in the nearest neighbourhood of each point. The index of a certain calibration point is determined by colours of four nearest neighbouring squares (Fig.1). An order of squares in such foursome is important. Because the size of a colour square is determined only by the possibility of correct colour detection, the size of a colour square can be smaller than the size of a black or white square. The larger size of a black or white square is determined by the requirements of the exact localisation step which follows the indexing of calibration points [3]. In this step, edge information is extracted from a blackand-white chessboard. This edge information needs larger Artur Nowakowski, Wladyslaw Skarbek Institute of Radioelectronics, Warsaw University of Technology, Nowowiejska 15/19, 00-665 Warszawa, A.Nowakowski@ire.pw.edu.pl Received February 10, 2009; accepted March 27, 2009; published March 31, 2009 http://www.photonics.pl/PLP