THIS: a tuneable heterodyne infrared spectrometer

With the Cologne Tuneable Heterodyne Infrared Spectrometer (THIS) we present a newly developed setup of a transportable heterodyne receiver. Competitiveness with regard to sensitivity, was reached for the first time with a semiconductor laser pumped system. Frequency tuneability of the local oscillator (LO) laser over a wide range of wavelengths is thus provided. This allows a variety of molecules, e.g. O ₃, NH ₃, CH ₄, N ₂O,…. in the earth's atmosphere, in planetary atmospheres or even in interstellar space to be observed with very high frequency resolution either from aboard the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) or other ground based telescopes. Besides the good results with tuneable lead salt laser (TDL) operation there's room to improve: the power provided by such devices is not sufficient for a sensitivity close to the quantum limit. Therefore, first tests with recently developed high power quantum-cascade lasers (QCL) were carried out and further substantial improvement of the system noise temperature seems to be in reach.