Applications of supercontinuum sources: Incoherent broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy

We study experimentally the application of supercontinuum (SC) sources in incoherent broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (IBB-CEAS). By carefully tailoring the SC spectrum to match the high reflectivity bandwidth of the mirrors, an unprecedented spectral brightness can be achieved at wavelengths where the effective absorption path length exceeds 40 km, making the fiber-based SC an ideal match for the simple and robust IBB-CEAS technique. We demonstrate the potential of SC sources in broadband measurement of weak overtone transitions of carbon dioxide and methane and compare its performances with that of typical superluminescent diode (SLD) source.