Kavli Affiliate: Alireza Marandi
| First 5 Authors: Robert M. Gray, Mingchen Liu, Selina Zhou, Arkadev Roy, Luis Ledezma
| Summary:
Optical molecular sensing is one of the most promising techniques for a wide
range of applications, from fundamental studies to medical and environmental
analysis. In the optical spectrum, the mid-infrared is particularly important
for sensing because many molecules exhibit strong absorption features in this
spectral region. To enhance the sensitivity of optical molecular sensing,
typically passive and sometimes active cavities are used; however, these
cavity-enhanced sensing techniques have so far faced fundamental trade-offs
between sensitivity and dynamic range and practical challenges associated with
the required cavity finesse and availability of laser gain materials. Here, we
show that nonlinear dynamics in low-finesse resonators, namely the formation of
quadratic cavity solitons, offer an enhancement mechanism for molecular
sensing, which is not limited by these constraints. In proof-of-principle
measurements of CO2, we show an equivalent path length enhancement of nearly
2500. Additionally, we demonstrate large dynamic range through measurement of
high concentrations of CO2 with sensitivities that are orders of magnitude
higher than those achievable through linear cavity-enhanced sensing, thereby
breaking the fundamental limitations of standard optical sensing techniques.
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