Abstract
Development of a pulsed quantum cascade laser (QCL)-based spectroscopic trace-gas sensor for sub-part-per-million detection of nitric oxide (NO) and capable of monitoring other molecular species such as CO2, H 2O, and NH3 in industrial combustion exhaust systems is reported. Rapid frequency modulation is applied to the QCL to minimize the influence of fluctuating non-selective absorption. A novel method utilizes only a few laser pulses within a single wavelength scan to probe an absorption spectrum at precisely selected optical frequencies. A high-temperature gas cell was used for laboratory evaluation of the NO sensor performance. A noise-equivalent sensitivity (1σ) of ∼ 100 ppb × m/ √Hz at room temperature and ∼ 200 ppb × m/ √Hz at 630 K was achieved by measuring the NO R(6.5) absorption doublet at 1900.075 cm-1.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 617-625 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics |
Volume | 80 |
Issue number | 4-5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2005 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
- General Physics and Astronomy