Continuous wave, distributed feedback diode laser based sensor for trace-gas detection of ethane

The development of a continuous wave (CW), thermoelectrically cooled (TEC), distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode based spectroscopic trace-gas sensor for ultra-sensitive and selective ethane (C2H6) concentration measurements is reported. The sensor platform used tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) based on a 2f wavelength modulation (WM) detection technique. TDLAS was performed with a 100 m optical path length astigmatic Herriott cell. For an interference free C2H6 absorption line located at 2976.8 cm−1 a 1σ minimum detection limit of 240 pptv (part per trillion by volume) with a 1 second lock-in amplifier time constant was achieved. In addition, reliable and long-term sensor performance was obtained when operating the sensor in an absorption line locked mode.

[1]  Frank K. Tittel,et al.  Current status of midinfrared quantum and interband cascade lasers for clinical breath analysis , 2010 .

[2]  M. Kamp,et al.  Shortened injector interband cascade lasers for 3.3- to 3.6-μm emission , 2010 .

[3]  Mariano Troccoli,et al.  Quantum cascade lasers: high-power emission and single-mode operation in the long-wave infrared (λ>6 μm) , 2010 .

[4]  Manijeh Razeghi,et al.  Watt level performance of quantum cascade lasers in room temperature continuous wave operation at λ∼3.76 μm , 2010 .

[5]  Federico Capasso,et al.  High-performance midinfrared quantum cascade lasers , 2010 .

[6]  Daniel J. Jacob,et al.  Global Budget of Ethane and Regional Constraints on U.S. Sources , 2008 .

[7]  M. Fraser,et al.  Application of quantum cascade lasers to trace gas analysis , 2008 .

[8]  J.P. Frantz,et al.  Development of Digital Signal Processor Controlled Quantum Cascade Laser Based Trace Gas Sensor Technology , 2006, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[9]  C. Storey,et al.  Room-temperature continuous-wave operation of type-I GaSb-based lasers at 3.1 μm , 2009 .

[10]  William W. Bewley,et al.  Ridge-width dependence of midinfrared interband cascade laser characteristics , 2010 .

[11]  M. Fischer,et al.  Continuous-wave operation of type-I quantum well DFB laser diodes emitting in 3.4 μm wavelength range around room temperature , 2011 .

[12]  Amir Sharafkhaneh,et al.  Exhaled nitric oxide parameters and functional capacity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , 2011, Journal of breath research.

[13]  Yves Rouillard,et al.  Tunable-diode-laser spectroscopy of C(2)H(2) using a 3.03 microm GaInAsSb/AlGaInAsSb distributed-feedback laser. , 2009, Optics letters.

[14]  Johannes Courtial,et al.  Oil and gas prospecting by ultra‐sensitive optical gas detection with inverse gas dispersion modelling , 2004 .

[15]  T. Risby,et al.  Utility of Breath Ethane as a Noninvasive Biomarker of Vitamin E Status in Children , 1991, Pediatric Research.

[16]  Sune Svanberg,et al.  Food monitoring based on diode laser gas spectroscopy , 2008 .

[17]  M. Zahniser,et al.  Multicomponent Breath Analysis With Infrared Absorption Using Room-Temperature Quantum Cascade Lasers , 2010, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[18]  F. Capasso,et al.  Quantum cascade lasers in chemical physics , 2010 .

[19]  A. Kosterev,et al.  Spectroscopic trace-gas sensor with rapidly scanned wavelengths of a pulsed quantum cascade laser for in situ NO monitoring of industrial exhaust systems , 2005 .

[20]  InP-Based Midinfrared Quantum Cascade Lasers for Wavelengths Below 4 μm , 2011, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[21]  Natan T Shaked,et al.  Dual-interference-channel quantitative-phase microscopy of live cell dynamics. , 2009, Optics letters.

[22]  Mattias Beck,et al.  High power Sb-free quantum cascade laser emitting at 3.3 μm above 350 K , 2011 .

[23]  B. Puri,et al.  Increased levels of ethane, a non-invasive, quantitative, direct marker of n-3 lipid peroxidation, in the breath of patients with schizophrenia , 2008, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry.

[24]  Terence H Risby,et al.  Off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy with a mid-infrared interband cascade laser for real-time breath ethane measurements. , 2009, Applied optics.

[25]  Johannes Koeth,et al.  Laser Diodes for Gas Sensing Emitting at 3.06 $\mu$m at Room Temperature , 2010, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[26]  P. Hering,et al.  Online monitoring of ethane traces in exhaled breath with a difference frequency generation spectrometer , 2006 .

[27]  M J Padgett,et al.  Application of laser spectroscopy for measurement of exhaled ethane in patients with lung cancer. , 2006, Respiratory medicine.

[28]  马建新,et al.  用FEV6．0代替FVC诊断气道阻塞和肺功能受限[英]／Swanney MP…∥Am J Respir Crit Care Med． , 2002 .

[29]  P. Barnes,et al.  Elevation of exhaled ethane concentration in asthma. , 2000, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine.

[30]  D. Blake,et al.  Influence of biomass burning during recent fluctuations in the slow growth of global tropospheric methane , 2006 .

[31]  D. Richter,et al.  Difference frequency generation laser based spectrometers , 2009 .

[32]  Rui Q. Yang,et al.  Dual interband cascade laser based trace-gas sensor for environmental monitoring. , 2007, Applied optics.

[33]  Manijeh Razeghi,et al.  High-performance InP-based midinfrared quantum cascade lasers at Northwestern University , 2010 .

[34]  Philip Jonathan,et al.  An improved algorithm for locating a gas source using inverse methods , 2007 .

[35]  G. Belenky,et al.  A stable mid-IR, GaSb-based diode laser source for the cryogenic target layering at the Omega Laser Facility. , 2009, Optics express.

[36]  M. Zahniser,et al.  Clinical study of multiple breath biomarkers of asthma and COPD (NO, CO2, CO and N2O) by infrared laser spectroscopy , 2011, Journal of breath research.

[37]  Mykhaylo P. Semtsiv,et al.  Short-wavelength (λ≈3.05μm) InP-based strain-compensated quantum-cascade laser , 2006 .

[38]  C. Kumar N. Patel,et al.  Progress in high-performance quantum cascade lasers , 2010 .

[39]  Marc N. Fiddler,et al.  Laser Spectroscopy for Atmospheric and Environmental Sensing , 2009, Sensors.