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arXiv · 2511.16365

Reconstructive comb spectroscopy: A single-pixel detection paradigm beyond dual-comb limitations

Dongxu Zhu·Zhuoren Wan·Xiaoshuai Ma·Chongyuan Shui·Yifan Yang·Yuan Chen·Mei Yang·Zijian Wang·Xiuxiu Zhang·Min Li·Hua Li·Kun Huang·Ming Yan·Yan Liang·Weiwei Cai·Heping Zeng
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Abstract

Frequency comb spectroscopy has revolutionized broadband molecular fingerprinting with mode-defined resolution. While dual-comb spectroscopy stands as a dominant paradigm for high-resolution measurements, it relies on mutually coherent dual combs, and its applicability to non-cooperative sensing is limited by the requirement for phase-sensitive detection and controlled optical returns. Here, we introduce reconstructive comb spectroscopy, a fundamentally different paradigm that eliminates these constraints. By integrating a mode-programmable optical comb with a computational sensing scheme based on single-pixel detection, our method achieves picometer-level spectral resolution over a 10-nm (1.27-THz) instantaneous bandwidth, with single-photon sensitivity down to 10^-4 photons per pulse, and compressed spectral acquisition at 2.5% sampling while maintaining reconstruction errors below 10%. We demonstrate robust performance through scattering media and from non-cooperative targets. These capabilities establish reconstructive comb spectroscopy as a new platform for gas sensing, with broad applicability in remote atmospheric monitoring, industrial leak detection, and standoff chemical-threat identification.

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Dongxu Zhu, Zhuoren Wan, Xiaoshuai Ma, Chongyuan Shui, Yifan Yang, Yuan Chen, Mei Yang, Zijian Wang, Xiuxiu Zhang, Min Li, Hua Li, Kun Huang, Ming Yan, Yan Liang, Weiwei Cai, Heping Zeng. 2025-11-20. Reconstructive comb spectroscopy: A single-pixel detection paradigm beyond dual-comb limitations. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.16365

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