«Previously, complete measurements of this type required actuation between measurements at different
heterodyne phases,» he said.
The signal the researchers are trying to detect is very small so it must be amplified by spatially overlapping a reference laser beam that doesn't contain the signal of interest, which is a process
called heterodyne amplification.
«Most complete measurements are made by collecting multiple measurements at
different heterodyne phases (a measure of the path length difference) between the signal and reference oscillator to remove any systematic noise,» he said.
«So we've added an additional probing laser path — in the same compact optical configuration — that allows us to collect measurements at
multiple heterodyne phases concurrently.»
In electronics and optics, this procedure of combining signals to get the beat frequency is called
heterodyne detection.
Or how about how astronomers
use heterodyne arrays with superconducting mixers to observe the birth of stars?
Dr. Okano is the first to observe height profiles of ozone in the stratosphere from the ground with
laser heterodyne spectroscopy.
HETERODYNE LAB ASSISTANT, JUNIOR GRADE All Burgermeister rewards, plus: BETA TESTER!