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Compact CH{sub 4} sensor system based on a continuous-wave, low power consumption, room temperature interband cascade laser

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939452· OSTI ID:22489225
 [1]; ; ;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States)
  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States)

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 CH{sub 4} sensor with a small footprint (32 × 20 × 17 cm{sup 3}) and low-power consumption (6 W). Polynomial and least-squares fit algorithms are employed to remove the baseline of the spectral scan and retrieve CH{sub 4} 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 CH{sub 4} sensor system.

OSTI ID:
22489225
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 108; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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