Broadband femtosecond transient infrared spectroscopy using a 256 x 256 element indium antimonide focal-plane detector

Application and characterization of large-format IR focal-plane arrays as detectors for ultrafast, high-resolution IR spectroscopy are discussed. We also present generation of broadband IR probe-reference pulses by use of collinear non-phase-matched geometry and shot-to-shot dual-track normalization to obtain transient spectra from broadly absorbing hydrogen-bonded systems. As much as 400-cm(-1) -wide coverage with 15-cm(-1) FWHM spectral resolution and +/-6.4 x 10(-4) (Delta OD = 3 x 10(-4)) baseline standard deviation (+/-1 sigma) is demonstrated near 2.9 mu m. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.