Communication: Hybrid femtosecond/picosecond rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering thermometry using a narrowband time-asymmetric probe pulse

A narrowband, time-asymmetric probe pulse is introduced into the hybrid femtosecond/picosecond rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (fs/ps RCARS) technique to provide accurate and precise single-shot, high-repetition-rate gas-phase thermometric measurements. This narrowband pulse-generated by inserting a Fabry-Perot etalon into the probe-pulse beam path-enables frequency-domain detection of pure-rotational transitions. The unique time-asymmetric nature of this pulse, in turn, allows for detection of resonant Raman-active rotational transitions free of signal contamination by nonresonant four-wave-mixing processes while still allowing detection at short probe-pulse delays, where collisional dephasing processes are negligible. We demonstrate that this approach provides excellent single-shot thermometric accuracy (<1% error) and precision (similar to 2.5%) in gas-phase environments. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3693669]