Mid-infrared supercontinuum-based upconversion detection for trace gas sensing

Recent advancements of mid-infrared (MIR) supercontinuum light sources have opened up new possibilities in laser-based trace gas sensing. While the supercontinuum sources inherently support wide spectral coverage, the detection of broadband absorption signals with high speed and low cost is traditionally limited by the MIR detector arrays. In this work, we demonstrate that this limitation can be circumvented by upconverting the MIR signal into the near-infrared (NIR) region, where cost-effective silicon-based detector arrays can be utilized to measure broadband absorption. We also show that, by combining a MIR supercontinuum source with a MIR-to-NIR upconverter and an astigmatic multipass cell, fast detection (~20 ms) of ethane with sub-ppmv sensitivity can be achieved at room temperature. For multi-species detection, a least-square global fitting method is presented, showing a promising potential for applications such as environmental monitoring and biomedical research.