Compact CH4 sensor system based on a continuous-wave, low power consumption, room temperature interband cascade laser

A tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy-based methane sensor, employing a dense-pattern multi-pass gas cell and a 3.3 μm, CW, DFB, room temperature interband cascade laser (ICL), is reported. The optical integration based on an advanced folded optical path design and an efficient ICL control s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2016-01, Vol.108 (1)
Main Authors: Dong, Lei, Li, Chunguang, Sanchez, Nancy P., Gluszek, Aleksander K., Griffin, Robert J., Tittel, Frank K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physics
Cascade lasers
Continuous radiation
Control systems design
ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
Lasers
Methane
Power consumption
Power management
Room temperature
Sensors
Tunable lasers
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Summary:A tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy-based methane sensor, employing a dense-pattern multi-pass gas cell and a 3.3 μm, CW, DFB, room temperature interband cascade laser (ICL), is reported. The optical integration based on an advanced folded optical path design and an efficient ICL control system with appropriate electrical power management resulted in a CH4 sensor with a small footprint (32 × 20 × 17 cm3) and low-power consumption (6 W). Polynomial and least-squares fit algorithms are employed to remove the baseline of the spectral scan and retrieve CH4 concentrations, respectively. An Allan-Werle deviation analysis shows that the measurement precision can reach 1.4 ppb for a 60 s averaging time. Continuous measurements covering a seven-day period were performed to demonstrate the stability and robustness of the reported CH4 sensor system.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4939452