Diverse sensing applications with dual optical frequency comb

In this study, the authors demonstrate a low cost, flexible, and versatile photonic sensing system utilising a dual optical frequency comb (D-OFC) and a real-time receiver. The D-OFC is generated using two mutually injected gain switched lasers (MI-GSLs) and its performance for sensing application demonstrated by tracking the wavelength shift of a fibre Bragg grating. The receiver comprises a low-speed photodetector, a 10 MS/s ADC and a 600 MHz ARM Cortex-M7 microcontroller. The system achieves a high accuracy, with a sensing resolution of 0.855 pm at 43 Hz capture rate