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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Characterizing Far-infrared Laser Emissions and the Measurement of Their Frequencies
Published on: December 18, 2015
Precision measurement of the refractive index of carbon dioxide with a frequency comb
1Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, Max-Planck Research Group and University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
Abstract:
We report a higher precision measurement of the refractive index of carbon dioxide using a frequency comb as the light source in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer setup. The experimental sensitivity can reach the level of 8.8x10(-9). Taking into account the measurement accuracy of temperature and pressure, the experimental accuracy has a value of 1.2x10(-8). The measurement result has a deviation from the commonly quoted result [Old , J. Opt. Soc. Am.61, 89 (1971)] by 6.4x10(-7) at 800 nm.
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