Long Wave Infrared Cavity Enhanced Sensors
The principal goal of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL's) long wave infrared (LWIR) cavity enhanced sensor (CES) project is to explore ultra-sensitive spectroscopic techniques and apply them to the development of LWIR chemical sensors needed for detecting weapons proliferation. This includes detecting not only the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) themselves, but also signatures of their production and/or detonation. The LWIR CES project is concerned exclusively with developing point sensors; other portions of PNNL's IR Sensors program address stand off detection. PNNL's LWIR CES research is distinguished from that done by others by the use quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) as the light source. QCLs are novel devices, and a significant fraction of our research has been devoted to developing the procedures and hardware required to implement them most effectively for chemical sensing. This report details the progress we have made on our LWIR CES sensor development. During FY02, PNNL investigated three LWIR CES implementations beginning with the easiest to implement, direct cavity-enhanced detection (simple CES), including a technique of intermediate difficulty, cavity-dithered phase-sensitive detection (FM recovery CES) through to the most complex technique, that of resonant sideband cavity-enhanced detection also known as noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy, or NICE-OHMS.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 15020767
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-15103; NN2001000; TRN: US200521%%255
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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