Interband cascade laser frequency combs for spectroscopic sensing (Conference Presentation)

By exploiting the bi-functional operation capability of interband cascade laser (ICL) frequency combs, we have utilized the laser medium not only for comb generation, but also as a room-temperature photodetector with near-GHz bandwidth for multi-heterodyne beating of the comb lines. Our self-contained platform consuming less than 2 W of electrical power enables free-running room-temperature broadband dual-comb spectroscopy of 1,1 difluoroethane with ~3% standard deviation in 2 ms over 600 GHz of optical bandwidth around 3.6 µm. We will discuss progress toward the optimization of ICL combs for realizing compact, low-power chemical sensors operating in the MWIR.