Recent Advances and Outlook in Single-Cavity Dual Comb Lasers

• Published in: Photonics Vol. 10; no. 2; p. 221
• Main Authors: Zhang, Chenghong, Qu, Fangrui, Ou, Peiwen, Sun, Haoqi, He, Shi, Fu, Bo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2023
• Subjects: Absorption spectroscopy; Broadband; Broadband transmission; dual-comb spectroscopy; Fourier transforms; Lasers; Lidar; Liu, Timothy; Measuring instruments; mode-locked lasers; Multiplexing; Optical frequency; Optical radar; Optics; single-cavity dual combs; Spectral analysis; Spectrum analysis
• ISSN: 2304-6732; 2304-6732
• DOI: 10.3390/photonics10020221

Dual-comb spectroscopy as an emerging tool for spectral analysis has been investigated in a wide range of applications, including absorption spectroscopy, light detection and ranging, and nonlinear spectral imaging. Two mutually coherent combs facilitate high-precision, high-resolution, and broadband spectroscopy. Recently, dual combs generated from a single cavity have become compelling options for dual-comb spectroscopy, enabling huge simplification to measuring systems. Here, we review the progress of single-cavity dual comb lasers in recent years and summarize the distinctive advantages of single-cavity dual combs. First, the principles of optical frequency comb and dual-comb spectroscopy are introduced in time and frequency domains. Then, the implementation techniques and typical applications of single-cavity dual comb lasers are discussed, including directional multiplexing, wavelength multiplexing, polarization multiplexing, and space multiplexing. Finally, an outlook on the development of single-cavity dual combs is presented.