Silicon-chip-based mid-infrared dual-comb spectroscopy
Abstract
On-chip spectroscopy that could realize real-time fingerprinting with label-free and high-throughput detection of trace molecules is one of the 'holy grails" of sensing. Such miniaturized spectrometers would greatly enable applications in chemistry, bio-medicine, material science or space instrumentation, such as hyperspectral microscopy of live cells or pharmaceutical quality control. Dual-comb spectroscopy (DCS), a recent technique of Fourier transform spectroscopy without moving parts, is particularly promising since it measures high-precision spectra in the gas phase using only a single detector. Here, we present a microresonator-based platform designed for mid-infrared (mid-IR) DCS. A single continuous-wave (CW) low-power pump source generates two mutually coherent mode-locked frequency combs spanning from 2.6 m to 4.1 m in two silicon micro-resonators. Thermal control and free-carrier injection control modelocking of each comb and tune the dual-comb parameters. The large line spacing of the combs (127 GHz) and its precise tuning over tens of MHz, unique features of chip-scale comb generators, are exploited for a proof-of-principle experiment of vibrational absorption DCS in the liquid phase, with spectra of acetone spanning from 2870 nm to 3170 nm at 127-GHz (4.2-cm) resolution. We take a significant step towards a broadband, mid-IR spectroscopy instrument on a chip. With further system development, our concept holds promise for real-time and time-resolved spectral acquisition on the nanosecond time scale.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1610.01121,
title = {Silicon-chip-based mid-infrared dual-comb spectroscopy},
author = {Mengjie Yu and Yoshitomo Okawachi and Austin G. Griffith and Nathalie Picqué and Michal Lipson and Alexander L. Gaeta},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1610.01121},
year = {2017}
}