Midinfrared sensors meet nanotechnology: Trace gas sensing with quantum cascade lasers inside photonic band-gap hollow waveguides

Abstract

Articles you may be interested inTrace gas measurements using optically resonant cavities and quantum cascade lasers operating at room temperature J. Appl. Phys. Fabrication of high-Q chalcogenide photonic crystal resonators by e-beam lithography Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 071102 (2007); 10.1063/1.2476416 Subwavelength imaging of field confinement in a waveguide-integrated photonic crystal cavity J. Appl. Phys. 98, 086109 (2005); 10.1063/1.2115090 Development of a measurement system for nitrate radical and dinitrogen pentoxide using a thermal conversion/laser-induced fluorescence technique Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 064101 (2005);

Smelling in Chemically Complex Environments: An Optofluidic Bragg Fiber Array for Differentiation of Methanol Adulterated Beverages

“…We note that the sensitivity of the optoelectronic nose can be simply improved by use of more powerful light sources such as quantum cascade lasers (QCL). 44 However, for our case the sensitivity of the optoelectronic is more than enough since a 5% alcohol solution is equivalent to around a couple of thousand ppm concentration in the vapor phase, which is almost 2 orders of magnitude higher than the sensitivity of the optoelectronic nose (57 ppm for ethanol and 157 ppm for methanol). In addition, improving the sensitivity may make data evaluation more complicated because the volatile chemicals in the backgrounds become detectable by the optoelectronic nose.…”

Hollow Waveguide Gas Sensor for Mid-Infrared Trace Gas Analysis

“…The entire system was purged with nitrogen for more than 3 h prior to measurements for eliminating residual moisture and CO 2 from the optical path. Gas samples with different concentrations were prepared by the exponential dilution method [2,13]. This method is widely used in gas chromatography for trace gas calibration.…”

“…Recent technological advances have triggered a renaissance in the field of mid-infrared spectroscopy translating benchtop-style IR instrumentation into fieldapplicable compact IR sensing devices. Novel light sources such as e.g., quantum cascade lasers, new light delivery systems such as e.g., hollow waveguide optical fibers, and advances in detector and Fourier transformation infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) technology yield mid-IR gas sensing devices that are more sensitive, faster, and more reliable [1][2][3][4][5][6]. These advances in fundamental IR technology reflect in increasingly adopted IR gas sensing schemes applied in environmental monitoring, harsh process environments, and biomedical research.…”

Photonic bandgap infrared spectrometer

“…Chalcogenide glasses [4,5] are excellent materials to be used in IR devices because chalcogen elements (S, Se, and Te) make stable IR transmitting glasses, such as As-S, As-Se and Ge-As-Se-Te (GAST), that can be readily deposited using thermal evaporation. Therefore, high refractive index contrast chalcogenides are being extensively used in PBG mirrors [6,7], filters [1,8], fibers [9], and in chemical and biological sensors [10,11].…”