Optical Beating of Polychromatic Light and its Impact on Time-Resolved Spectroscopy. Part II: Strategies for Spectroscopic Sensing in the Presence of Optical Beating

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Abstract
Time-resolved spectroscopy can be compromised by optical beating, which is inherent to polychromatic light sources and signals. For incoherent light sources, the random interference can partially or completely mask the spectroscopic signature of interest if the time dynamics of the interference are similar to or faster than that of the signature. Part I of this review focused on the theory of this process with an emphasis on thermal light sources, and in this part, four methods to mitigate or circumnavigate the detrimental impact of interference on time-resolved spectroscopy are reviewed: use of light with a controlled, non-stochastic phase, use of narrow-bandwidth light, averaging, and pulse referencing.