Using DARPA funding to research Infrared electric-field sampled frequency comb spectroscopy.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and collaborators have demonstrated a compact frequency-comb apparatus that rapidly measures the entire infrared band of light to detect biological, chemical and physical properties of matter. The NIST setup has potential applications such as disease diagnosis, identification of chemicals used in manufacturing, and biomass energy harvesting.
Optical frequency combs measure exact frequencies, or colors, of light. Various comb designs have enabled the development of next-generation atomic clocks and show promise for environmental applications such as detecting methane leaks. Biological applications have been slower to develop, in part because it’s been hard to directly generate and measure the relevant infrared light.
In addition, when combined with novel imaging techniques, the system could obtain nanometer-scale images of samples that currently require the use of a much larger synchrotron facility. Also, the new apparatus might be used to detect interactions between infrared light and condensed matter for quantum computing approaches that store data in molecular vibrations or rotations.
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