Fiber-laser-based noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectrometry instrumentation for Doppler-broadened detection in the 10-12 cm-1 Hz-1/2 region

A fiber-laser-based noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectrometry (FL-NICE-OHMS) system for white-noise-limited Doppler-broadened detection down to 5.6 x 10(-12) cm(-1) Hz(-1/2) is demonstrated. The system is based on a previous FL-NICE-OHMS instrumentation in which the locking of the laser frequency to a cavity mode has been improved by the use of an acousto-optic modulator (AOM) and provision of a more stable environment by the employment of a noise-isolating enclosed double-layer table, a temperature regulation of the laboratory, and an ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) gas system. White-noise behavior up to 10 s provides the instrument with a minimum detectable on-resonance absorbance per unit length of 1.8 x 10(-12) cm(-1) and a relative single-pass absorption (Delta I/I) of 7.2 x 10(-11). The system was applied to detection of acetylene on a transition at 1531.588 nm, yielding a detection sensitivity of C2H2 in atmospheric pressure gas of 4 ppt (measured over 10 s). (C) 2012 Optical Society of America