Balanced detection for interferometry with a noisy source

Optical properties of nanostructures depend on size, shape, material, and local environment. These characteristics can be probed interferometrically, given a broadband source. However, broadband supercontinuum sources are intrinsically noisy, limiting the measurement sensitivity. In this article we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inReview of scientific instruments Vol. 83; no. 6; p. 063705
Main Authors Robinson, E C, Trägårdh, J, Lindsay, I D, Gersen, H
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.06.2012
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Summary:Optical properties of nanostructures depend on size, shape, material, and local environment. These characteristics can be probed interferometrically, given a broadband source. However, broadband supercontinuum sources are intrinsically noisy, limiting the measurement sensitivity. In this article we describe the application of an auto-balancing technique to reduce the noise in a broadband supercontinuum source, thus increasing the signal to noise ratio. We show a noise reduction of 41 dB allowing optical powers as small as 0.01 pW to be interferometrically detected with a 5 ms integration time.
ISSN:1089-7623
DOI:10.1063/1.4729474