Measuring molecular frequencies in the 1--10 {\mu}m range at 11-digits accuracy

G. Insero; S. Borri; D. Calonico; P. Cancio Pastor; C. Clivati; D. D'Ambrosio; P. De Natale; M. Inguscio; F. Levi; G. Santambrogio

arXiv · 1703.10975

Measuring molecular frequencies in the 1--10 {\mu}m range at 11-digits accuracy

G. Insero·S. Borri·D. Calonico·P. Cancio Pastor·C. Clivati·D. D'Ambrosio·P. De Natale·M. Inguscio·F. Levi·G. Santambrogio

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Abstract

Mid infrared (MIR) photonics is a key region for molecular physics [1]. High-resolution spectroscopy in the 1--10 {\mu}m region, though, has never been fully tackled for the lack of widely-tunable and practical light sources. Indeed, all solutions proposed thus far suffer from at least one of three issues: they are feasible only in a narrow spectral range; the power available for spectroscopy is limited; the frequency accuracy is poor. Here, we present a setup for high-resolution spectroscopy that can be applied in the whole 1--10 {\mu}m range by combining the power of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) and the accuracy achievable by difference frequency generation using an OP-GaP crystal. The frequency is measured against a primary frequency standard using the Italian metrological fibre link network. We demonstrate the performance of the setup by measuring a vibrational transition in a highly-excited metastable state of CO around 6 {\mu}m with 11 digits of precision, four orders of magnitude better than the value available in the literature [2].

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G. Insero, S. Borri, D. Calonico, P. Cancio Pastor, C. Clivati, D. D'Ambrosio, P. De Natale, M. Inguscio, F. Levi, G. Santambrogio. 2017-03-31. Measuring molecular frequencies in the 1--10 {\mu}m range at 11-digits accuracy. https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.10975

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