Broadband ringdown spectral photography

A new technique that enables frequency-resolved cavity ringdown absorption spectra to be obtained over a large optical bandwidth by a single laser shot is described. The technique, ringdown spectral photography (RSP), simultaneously employs two key principles to record the time and frequency response of an optical cavity along orthogonal axes of a CCD array detector. Previously, the principles employed in RSP were demonstrated with narrow-band laser light that was scanned in frequency [Chem. Phys. Lett. 292,143(1998)]. Here, the RSP method is demonstrated using single pulses of broadband visible laser light. The ability to obtain broad as well as rotationally resolved spectra over a large bandwidth with high sensitivity is demonstrated. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.