ABSTRACT
Cavity-enhanced spectroscopy is a sensitive optical absorption technique but one where the practical applications have been limited to studying small wavelength ranges. This Letter shows that wideband operation can be achieved by combining techniques usually reserved for the communications community with that of cavity-enhanced spectroscopy, producing a multiplexed real-time cavity-enhanced spectrometer. We use multiple collinear laser sources operating asynchronously and simultaneously while being detected on a single photodetector. This is synonymous with radio frequency (RF) cellular systems in which signals are detected on a single antenna but decoded uniquely. Here, we demonstrate results with spectra of methyl salicylate and show parts-per-billion per root hertz sensitivity measured in real-time.
ABSTRACT
Optical cavity enhancement is a highly desirable process to make sensitive direct-absorption spectroscopic measurements of unknown substances, such as explosives, illicit material, or other species of interest. This paper reports advancements in the development of real-time cavity ringdown spectroscopy over a wide-bandwidth, with the aim to make headspace measurements of molecules at trace levels. We report results of two pulsed quantum cascade systems operating between (1200 to 1320)cm(-1) and (1316 to 1613)cm(-1) that measure the headspace of nitromethane, acetonitrile, acetone, and nitroglycerin, where the spectra are obtained in less than four seconds and contain at least 150,000 spectral wavelength datapoints.
ABSTRACT
We have constructed a cavity ring-down spectrometer employing a near-IR external cavity diode laser capable of measuring 13C/12C isotopic ratios in CO2 in human breath. The system, which has a demonstrated minimum detectable absorption loss of 3.2 x 10(-11) cm(-1) Hz(-1/2), determines the isotopic ratio of 13C16O16O/12C16O16O by measuring the intensities of rotationally resolved absorption features of each species. As in isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), the isotopic ratio of a sample is compared to that of a standard CO2 sample calibrated to the Pee Dee Belemnite scale and reported as the sample's delta13C value. Measurements of eight replicate CO2 samples standardized by IRMS and consisting of 5% CO2 in N2 at atmospheric pressure demonstrated a precision of 0.22/1000 for the technique. Delta13C values were also obtained for breath samples from individuals testing positive and negative for the presence of Helicobacter pylori, the leading cause of peptic ulcers in humans. This study demonstrates the ability of the instrument to obtain delta13C values in breath samples with sufficient precision to serve as a useful medical diagnostic.
