*Spectra cannot be acquired quickly due to the monochromatic laser source which is used. Having said this, some groups are now beginning to develop the use of broadband LED or supercontinuum sources for CRDS, the light of which can then be dispersed by a grating onto a CCD, or Fourier transformed spectrometer (mainly in broadband analogues of CRDS). Perhaps more importantly, the development of CRDS based techniques have now been demonstrated over the range from the near UV to the mid-infrared. In addition, the frequency-agile rapid scanning (FARS) CRDS technique has been developed to overcome the mechanical or thermal frequency tuning which typically limits CRDS acquisition rates. The FARS method utilizes an electro-optic modulator to step a probe laser side band to successive cavity modes, eliminating tuning time between data points and allowing for acquisition rates about 2 orders of magnitude faster than traditional thermal tuning.
*Analytes are limited both by the availability of tunable laser light at the appropriate wavelength and also the availability of high reflectance mirrors at those wavelengths.
*Expense: the requirement for laser systems and high reflectivity mirrors often makes CRDS orders of magnitude more expensive than some alternative spectroscopic techniques.