Abstract

Supercontinuum radiation sources are becoming ubiquitous in a large range of scientific applications. They offer enormous spectral bandwidth and high brightness - ideal attributes for applications in molecular sensing, improving both speed and sensitivity of detection. There are challenges too, however: supercontinuum generation is an inherently noisy process and some wavelength regions of interest for molecular sensing are as of yet difficult to reach. We review the current state-of-the-art of molecular sensing with supercontinuum radiation and reflect critically on current challenges and future opportunities.

© 2011 Optical Society of America