Mid-infrared virtually imaged phased array spectrometer for rapid and broadband trace gas detection

Published

August 1, 2012

Author(s)

Lora L. Nugent-Glandorf, Tyler W. Neely, Florian B. Adler, Adam J. Fleisher, Kevin C. Cossel, Bryce Bjork, Tim P. Dinneen, Chris S. Wood, Jun Ye, Scott A. Diddams

Abstract

We present and analyze a 2-D imaging spectrometer based on a virtually imaged phased array (VIPA) disperser for rapid, high-resolution molecular detection using mid-infrared (MIR) frequency combs. A broad bandwidth, MIR laser source centered at ~3.1 υm incident on a CH4 sample detects >3750 resolution elements spanning >80 nm with ~600 MHz resolution in a 20 υs acquisition time. In addition to broadband detection, rapid, time-resolved single image detection is demonstrated by capturing dynamic concentration changes of CH4 at a rate of ~375 frames/s. Changes in concentration on this millisecond time scale can be differentiated between subsequent frames with superb signal-to-noise, leading to important future applications, such as real time monitoring of reaction dynamics and gas concentrations.

Citation

Optics Letters

Volume

37

Issue

15

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Mid-Infrared, Trace Gas Detection, VIPA spectrometer

Citation

Nugent-Glandorf, L. , Neely, T. , Adler, F. , Fleisher, A. , Cossel, K. , Bjork, B. , Dinneen, T. , Wood, C. , Ye, J. and Diddams, S. (2012), Mid-infrared virtually imaged phased array spectrometer for rapid and broadband trace gas detection, Optics Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=911480 (Accessed October 15, 2025)