System and method for power ratio determination with common mode suppression through electric field differencing

1. A system comprising:

a receiver assembly for receiving a signal having a sample component with a sample electric field and a sample polarization, and having a reference component with a reference electric field and a reference polarization, the reference polarization being offset from the sample polarization, the receiver assembly comprising:

an analyzer for polarimetrically processing the signal, wherein the analyzer is capable of differencing the signal to generate a difference electric field proportional to the difference of the sample and reference electric fields, the polarimetric differencing reducing a magnitude of a common-mode amplitude of the sample and reference electric fields, wherein the analyzer is further capable of summing the signal to generate a sum electric field proportional to the sum of the sample and reference electric fields; and

an electric-field detector for measuring the difference electric field, the reduction in common-mode amplitude decreasing a noise equivalent power of the electric-field detector wherein the receiver assembly further comprises:

a power detector for measuring a sum power based upon the sum electric field; and

a processor programmed to calculate a power ratio based upon the measured difference electric field and the measured sum power.

2. A system according to claim 1 further comprising:

a beamsplitter for generating first and second beams from a source beam;

a sample cell for receiving the first beam and outputting a sample signal with a sample electric field, the sample cell including a sample medium and a base medium;

a reference cell for receiving the second beam and outputting a reference signal with a reference electric field, the reference cell including the base medium, wherein the sample and reference signals have a polarization offset; and

a polarizing beamsplitter for combining the sample signal and the reference signal into the signal having the sample and reference components.

3. A system according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is capable of calculating a power ratio of the sample signal and the reference signal based upon the measured difference electric field and the measured sum power, the power ratio being representative of a transmission of the sample.

4. A system according to claim 2 , wherein the source beam has a transmission frequency, and wherein the system further comprises:

a transmitter for scanning the source beam through a plurality of transmission frequencies in a range of frequencies,

wherein the beamsplitter, sample cell, reference cell, polarizing beamsplitter, analyzer, electric-field detector, power detector, and processor are capable of generating first and second beams, outputting a sample signal, outputting a reference signal, combining the sample and reference signals, measuring the difference electric field, measuring the sum power, and calculating a power ratio for each transmission frequency to obtain a power ratio for each transmission frequency, the power ratio at each transmission frequency being representative of a transmission of the sample, and wherein the processor is capable of defining a measured absorption signature for the sample medium based upon the transmissions and associated transmission frequencies.

5. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the electric-field detector of the receiver assembly comprises a heterodyne receiver.

6. A method comprising:

receiving a signal having a sample component with a sample electric field and a sample polarization, and having a reference component with a reference electric field and a reference polarization, the reference polarization being offset from the sample polarization;

polarimetrically processing the signal, wherein the polarimetrically processing step includes differencing the signal to generate a difference electric field proportional to the difference of the sample and reference electric fields, and wherein the polarimetric differencing reduces a magnitude of a common-mode amplitude of the sample and reference electric fields, wherein the polarimetrically processing step further includes summing the signal to generate a sum electric field proportional to the sum of the sample and reference electric fields; and

measuring the difference electric field with an electric-field detector, the reduction in common-mode amplitude decreasing a noise equivalent power of the electric-field detector, wherein the method further comprises:

measuring a sum power with a power detector based upon the sum electric field; and

calculating a power ratio based upon the measured difference electric field and the measured sum power.

7. A method according to claim 6 , further comprising:

generating first and second beams from a source beam;

propagating the first beam through a sample cell to thereby establish a sample signal with a sample electric field, the sample cell including a sample medium and a base medium;

propagating the second beam through a reference cell to thereby establish a reference signal with a reference electric field, the reference cell including the base medium, wherein the sample and reference signals have a polarization offset; and

combining the sample signal and the reference signal into the signal having the sample and reference components.

8. A method according to claim 6 , wherein measuring the difference electric field comprises measuring the difference electric field with an electric-field detector comprising a heterodyne receiver.