High bandwidth absorption spectroscopy with a dispersed supercontinuum source.

An optical gas sensor is presented, making use of a dispersed supercontinuum source, capable of acquiring broad bandwidth spectra at ultrahigh wavelength sweep and repetition rates. Wavelength sweeps from 1100 nm to 1700 nm can be performed in 800 ns at a spectral resolution of 40 pm. This is comparable to line-widths of molecular spectra at atmospheric pressure. Quantitative measurements are presented of CH(4) employing 80 nm wide sweeps over the P- Q- and R-branches of the 2nu(3) transition near 1665 nm, at rates exceeding 100 kHz. The effective acquisition rate is determined by the amount of averaging required, and the effect of this averaging on observed precision is investigated.