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Dual-comb spectroscopy over a 100 km open-air path

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Abstract

Dual-comb spectroscopy (DCS) provides broadband, high-resolution, high-sensitivity amplitude and phase spectra within a short measurement time, thus holding promises for atmospheric spectroscopy. However, previous research has been limited to measuring over open-air paths of about 20 km. Here, by developing a bistatic set-up using time–frequency dissemination and high-power optical frequency combs, we implement DCS over a 113 km turbulent horizontal open-air path. We successfully measure the absorbance spectra of CO2 and H2O with a 7 nm spectral bandwidth and a 10 kHz frequency accuracy, and achieve a sensing precision of <2 ppm in 5 min and <0.6 ppm in 36 min for CO2. We anticipate our system to find immediate applications in the monitoring of urban greenhouse gas and gaseous pollutants emission. Our technology may also be extended to satellite-based DCS for greenhouse gas monitoring and calibration measurements.

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Fig. 1: Protocols of DCS.
Fig. 2: The experimental set-up.
Fig. 3: Original spectrum and resulting spectrum.
Fig. 4: CO2 concentration and H2O concentration extracted independently from the absorbance and phase spectra at both terminals. The ‘abs’ refers to the concentration inverted from absorbance, and the ‘pha’ refers to the concentration inverted from phase spectrum.
Fig. 5: CO2 precision (Allan deviation) for the four retrievals over a period of relative stability.

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Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this article (and its Supplementary Information files). All data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

All relevant codes or algorithms are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S.-M. Hu and Y. Tan from the University of Science and Technology of China. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 42125402, 42188101, T2125010 and 61825505); National Key Research and Development Programme of China (grant nos. 2020YFA0309800 and 2020YFC2200103); Strategic Priority Research Programme of Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. XDB35030000); Anhui Initiative in Quantum Information Technologies (grant no. AHY010100); Key R&D Plan of Shandong Province (grant nos. 2020CXGC010105 and 2021ZDPT01); Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (grant 2019SHZDZX01); Innovation Programme for Quantum Science and Technology (grant nos. 2021ZD0300105 and 2021ZD0300301); Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities; the Ground-based Space Environment Monitoring Network (the Chinese Meridian Project).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Jin-Jian Han, Wei Zhong, Ruo-Can Zhao.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Jin-Jian Han, Ting Zeng, Min Li, Jian Lu, Xin-Xin Peng, Qi Shen, Jian-Yu Guan, Lei Hou, Ji-Gang Ren, Hai-Feng Jiang, Xiang-Hui Xue, Qiang Zhang & Jian-Wei Pan

  2. Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai, China

    Jin-Jian Han, Ting Zeng, Min Li, Jian Lu, Xin-Xin Peng, Qi Shen, Jian-Yu Guan, Lei Hou, Ji-Gang Ren, Hai-Feng Jiang, Qiang Zhang & Jian-Wei Pan

  3. Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Jin-Jian Han, Ting Zeng, Min Li, Jian Lu, Xin-Xin Peng, Qi Shen, Jian-Yu Guan, Lei Hou, Ji-Gang Ren, Jian-Jun Jia, Yu Wang, Hai-Feng Jiang, Xiang-Hui Xue, Qiang Zhang, Xian-Kang Dou & Jian-Wei Pan

  4. CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Wei Zhong, Ruo-Can Zhao, Qin Yin, Yu Wang & Xiang-Hui Xue

  5. Faculty of Information Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China

    Xi-Ping Shi

  6. Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China

    Yong Wang & Ali Esamdin

  7. Key Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronic Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

    Jian-Jun Jia & Qiang Zhang

  8. Anhui Mengcheng Geophysics National Observation and Research Station, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Yu Wang & Xiang-Hui Xue

Authors
  1. Jin-Jian Han
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  2. Wei Zhong
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  3. Ruo-Can Zhao
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  7. Xin-Xin Peng
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Contributions

H.-F.J., X.-H.X., Q.Z., X.-K.D. and J.-W.P. conceived the experiment. J.-J.H., W.Z., R.-C.Z., Q.S., J.-Y.G., H.-F.J., X.-H.X. and Q.Z. designed the dual-comb spectroscopy set-up. J.-G.R., T.Z. and J.-J.J. built the optical telescopes. L.H., X.-X.P. and H.-F.J. developed the optical frequency combs and amplifiers. Q.S., M.L., J.-Y.G. and J.-J.H. developed the linear optical sampling optics and electrics. X.-P.S., M.L., Q.S. and J.-Y.G. designed the data acquisition software. J.-J.H., W.Z., R.-C.Z., Q.Y., J.-Y.G., Q.S. and M.L. developed the data process algorithms and designed the data process software. All authors carried out the experiment, analysed the data and contributed to the writing of the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xiang-Hui Xue, Qiang Zhang or Jian-Wei Pan.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 The locking direction of the frequency combs at both terminals.

The fCEO and the fBeat are set to be equal but in opposite directions for each terminal.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Detailed experimental optical setup of single terminal.

USL: Ultra-stable laser; Tele: Telescope; BPD: Balanced photondetector; GPS: Global Position System; Cir: Circulator; EDFA: Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Detailed experimental optical setup of Telescope.

MIR: Mirror; PBS: Polarizing beam splitter; FC: Fiber collimator; WDM: wavelength division multiplexer; BE: Beam expander; FSM: Fast steering mirror; LD: Laser diode; DM1: Dichroic beam splitter, 785nm transmitted, 1545nm reflected; DM2: Dichroic beam splitter, 914nm transmitted, 1545nm reflected; CMOS: Complementary metal–oxide semiconductor.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Fig. 1, Discussion and Tables 1–3.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 2

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 3

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 4

Statistical source data.

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Han, JJ., Zhong, W., Zhao, RC. et al. Dual-comb spectroscopy over a 100 km open-air path. Nat. Photon. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-024-01525-9

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