To meet the requirements for multi-species gas analysis, Quartz-Enhanced Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS) is used in combination with an IC-based External Cavity Laser system (IC-ECL). The laser system allows the coverage of a wavelength range of 285 nm with an output power of several mW. By integrating piezoelectric actuators as well as resonantly driven MEMS actuators, extremely high sampling rates can be achieved. In this work, results on the detection of multiple trace gases by sequential quasi-simultaneous measurements are presented. The requirements of multi-species detection, output power, tuning range and detection rate are met by our work.
With emerging technologies, which result in more intensive industry and manufacturing, fully portable and multi-gas detectors are increasingly being required on to handle situations where a wider range of hazardous substances may be present and proper detection equipment is essential.
Most gas monitoring devices focus on a single species. However, there are many sensing applications (e.g.: industrial chemical processes) where several gases need monitoring at the same time and with a single detector. In this regard, a novel portable QEPAS (Quartz-Enhanced Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy) multi-gas detector with non overlapping QTFs (Quartz Tuning Forks) resonance frequencies can help meet these challenges.
External resonator diode lasers are the appropriate choice for species detection in application areas such as medicine, climate and industry due to their excellent properties, but have limitations in terms of high detection rates and commercial availability in the MIR region. Especially in the MIR region, many molecules have particularly strong absorption bands, which can result in very low detection limits and is therefore of particular interest. In this paper, we present our new ICbased laser chips with straight and curved waveguides with a center wavelength at 3.4 μm. These are integrated into an external resonator setup and characterized. The IC-based system enables continuous wave operation at room temperature over a wavelength range of 285 nm with several mW output power. With respect to the problem of high sampling rates, one promising technique is MEMS technology integrated as a tuning element in the external resonator structure. This enables planar drive control for high-frequency resonance-driven MEMS scanners, where the sampling frequency corresponds to the resonance frequency. These will be tested for their suitability and integrated into an ECDL setup and evaluated. Our work will address new requirements in terms of tuning range, output power, and acquisition rate.
The detection and identification of molecular gases are of high relevance in many applications within healthcare, production monitoring and safety as well as environmental monitoring. One of the major difficulties of trace gas analysis is due to the bulky and expensive systems, what excludes both mobile and handheld use. For this purpose we present our new system based on the Quartz Enhanced PhotoAcoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS), which can provide the required properties for gas analysis. We have developed a compact detection unit where DFB laser, collimation optics and QTF are integrated in a 14-pin butterfly housing. Therefore an optimization of the DFB laser chips will be presented too. The results show, that the laser diodes not only provide excellent performance, but also allow a detection limit for the greenhouse gas methane and carbon dioxide in the ppm range.
Although external cavity diode lasers have become firmly established for their excellent properties for species detection, they have severe limitations in terms of high acquisition rates. In this paper, we present our new ECDL design based on a resonantly driven MEMS scanner. By using the MEMS technology, a defined frequency range can be tuned extremely fast and without mode-hops. This allows scanning frequencies in the high kHz range to be achieved. The results of the characterization of the spectral properties of the MEMS-based system and its use for rapid detection of trace gases are presented.
KEYWORDS: Field programmable gate arrays, Signal to noise ratio, Absorption, Amplifiers, Modulation, Linear filtering, Spectroscopy, Signal detection, Methane, Photoacoustic spectroscopy
Lock-in amplifiers are a powerful tool for signal detection within a noise environment. Commercial Lock-in amplifiers are bulky and disqualified for handheld operation. We report recent progress on FPGA based lock-in real-time detection scheme with the application in Quartz-Enhanced-Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS). The new QEPAS configuration is tested and verified on a fast Methane detection scheme in the 1650 nm spectral regime. The novel FPGA detection scheme can be easily transferred into other spectral regimes and offers the opportunity of multi-species real-time measurements.
External cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) are a well-established laboratory tool due to their excellent emission properties. However, if the ECDLs are used outside the laboratory, they have limitations in terms of tuning speed and robustness. For overcoming these limitations, we developed a new micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based ECDL cavity concept. The 1D MEMS actuator defines the angle of incidence at the diffraction grating as well as the cavity length of the ECDL. Due to the high resonance frequency of the MEMS actuator in the kHz range, the switching speed of the ECDL emission wavelength is drastically reduced. Furthermore, the MEMS actuator minimizes the sensitivity to external disturbance which opens a path to handheld wide mode-hop free tunable ECDLs in the near future. Therefore we have also optimized our curved waveguide concept based on GaSb for the ECDL design, whereby a wavelength range from NIR to the MIR range can be better covered. These features qualify the new developed MEMS tunable ECDL for the high demands of the high resolution multi-species molecular spectroscopy. Application examples of the MEMS based ECDL and the curved gain chips will be provided.
GaSb based types of diode lasers may cover the spectral regime from below 1.8 μm up to 5 μm. For the wavelength regime of 1.8 μm to 2.5 μm InGaAsSb/GaSb MQW material is used. For 2.5 μm to 3.4 μm InAlGaAsSb/GaSb MQW material is used. For above 3μm, an ICL type of design is required. We realized a growth campaign of 10 GaSb based wavers for covering the wavelength regime from 1.9μm to 3μm. We report on the test, performance and applications results in molecular gas sensing of both, gain chips within an external cavity laser as well as on digital DFB lasers.
Tunable diode lasers are an important tool for spectroscopy and as laser sources for a wide range of applications. In this paper, an improvement of External Cavity Diode Lasers (ECDLs) is presented. The present generation of ECDLs is designed as a laboratory instrument which is sensitive against ambient disturbance like shock, noise, and temperature fluctuations. In addition, state of the art ECDLs in Littrow and Littman/Metcalf configuration have limitations in terms of tuning range, tuning speed, and size. These technologically disadvantages make it difficult to use ECDLs for various applications. Therefore, we developed a new miniaturized mode-hop free tunable next-generation ECDL design based on a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) device. It includes the benefits of the current ECDL technology and allows an outstanding improvement in terms of efficiency, stability, repeatability and tuning range. Moreover, the tuning speed is increased into the kHz regime due to the fast nature of the tilting capabilities of the MEMS actuators. The focus will be set on the initial use of this new design in connection with semiconductor laser chips based on GaAs, InP, GaSb and IC. This makes it possible to cover a large area from the near-infrared up to the mid-infrared. Especially the midinfrared contains stronger absorption lines of significant gases, which are of great interest in the field of biomedicine, process control and environmental monitoring. The excellent performance of this innovative ECDL cavity design as well as the low noise promises better possibilities of gas detection for the previously mentioned applications.
The MIR wavelength regime promises lower gas detection limits than the NIR or the VIS region due to higher absorption levels as one can read for simulation listed in HITRAN. Methane shows moderate absorbance below 3 μm which results into detection limits in the range of low ppm. IC and QC based lasers emit higher wavelengths, where the absorbances of methane are higher. TDLAS and QEPAS measurements to the trace gas CH4 are shown to display the spectroscopy performance of the different lasers with and without influences from the detector material. In this manuscript only QEPAS measurements will be presented. Scope of this paper is a quantitative comparison of the absorption and QEPAS behaviour of Methane in four important spectral regimes.
The NIR/MIR region between 1.8μm and 3.5μm contains important absorption lines for gas detection. State of the art are InP laser based setups, which show poor gain above 1.8μm and cannot be applied beyond 2.1μm. GaSb laser show a significantly higher output power (100mW for Fabry-Perot, 30mW for DFB). The laser design is presented with simulation and actual performance data. The superior performance of the GaSb lasers is verified in gas sensing applications. TDLAS and QEPAS measurements at trace gases like CH4, CO2 and N2O are shown to prove the spectroscopy performance.
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