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Development Of A Compact Broadband Optical Parametric Oscillator For Ultra-Sensitive Molecular Detection, Sean O. Crystal
Development Of A Compact Broadband Optical Parametric Oscillator For Ultra-Sensitive Molecular Detection, Sean O. Crystal
Honors Undergraduate Theses
Every gas molecule has a unique absorption spectrum that can be captured using optical spectroscopy to identify an unknown sample's composition. Frequency combs systems can provide an extremely broad mid-infrared spectrum that is very useful for molecular detection. A degenerate optical parametric oscillator (OPO) was built to generate the down-converted and shifted frequency comb spectrum. This system utilizes an ultra-short pulse 1.56µm pump laser and a never before used orientation patterned gallium-phosphide crystal. Periodically polled lithium niobate (PPLN), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Gallium Phosphide are all crystals used to accomplish this task. GaP, in comparison to PPLN, has (i) a …