Active detection using frequency comb spectroscopy

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Spectrometry using the beat note of two laser frequency combs is poised to revolutionize the field of infraredspectroscopy, promising to deliver high sensitivity, high resolution and tremendous measurement speed. Suchimprovements in the quality of infrared teledetection measurements will definitely have critical impacts onsecurity applications, such as the detection of chemical, biological agents and pollutants. This is important toprevent and mitigate potential events by monitoring the air quality in an area deemed critical as well as in theresponse to an event in helping to quickly detect, identify and quantify if a given disseminated powder, liquid,gel or aerosol is harmful or not.To bring the frequency comb heterodyne technique out of the very few labs currently demonstrating it, seriousengineering research has to be carried, notably on the stabilisation of portable femtosecond laser sources. Theend goal of this proposal is therefore to develop a field portable frequency comb heterodyne mid-infraredspectrometer and to demonstrate its potential for security applications in comparison with conventional infraredtele-detection techniques. A significant intermediate goal of the project is the development of extremely brightmid-infrared sources that could be use to significantly improve the sensitivity of conventional infraredspectrometers.