Quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy with a 3.38 μm antimonide distributed feedback laser

A system for gas sensing based on the quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy technique has been developed. It makes use of a quantum well distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode emitting at 3.38 mu m. This laser emits near room temperature in the continuous wave regime. A spectrophone, consisting of a quartz tuning fork and two steel microresonators were used. Second derivative wavelength modulation detection is used to perform low concentration measurements. The sensitivity and the linearity of the Quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor were studied. A normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient of 4.06 x 10(-9) cm(-1).W/Hz(1/2) was achieved. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America