Abstract
We describe a method for efficiently determining the wavelength of a monochromatic source and provide an experimental proof-of-concept. The photomeasurement efficiency for a wavemeter can be written as η(N, q) = (1 + logqN)/m, where N is the number of spectral channels, q is the number of distinguishable output levels per photodetector, and m is the actual number of photomeasurements made. An implementation is developed that achieves a theoretical efficiency of η(N, q) = 1. The proof-of-concept experiment achieves efficiencies η = O(1), where the deviation from theory is attributable to well-known optical effects and should be correctable in future versions.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 6219-6229 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Optics Express |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 25 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics