Abstract
An ultra-sensitive photo-acoustic spectrometer using a 10.4 μm broadly tunable mid-IR external cavity quantum cascade laser (EC-QCL) coupled with optical feedback to an optical power buildup cavity with high reflectivity mirrors was developed and tested. A laser optical power buildup factor of 181 was achieved, which corresponds to an intra-cavity power of 9.6 W at a wavelength of 10.4 μm. With a photo-acoustic resonance cell placed inside the cavity this resulted in the noise-equivalent absorption coefficient of 1.9 × 10−10 cm−1 Hz−1/2, and a normalized noise-equivalent absorption of 1.1 × 10−11 cm−1 W Hz−1/2. A novel photo-acoustic signal normalization technique makes the photo-acoustic spectrometer’s response immune to changes and drifts in the EC-QCL excitation power, EC-QCL to cavity coupling efficiency and cavity mirrors aging and contamination. An automatic lock of the EC-QCL to the cavity and optical feedback phase optimization permitted long wavelength scans within the entire EC-QCL spectral tuning range.
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Acknowledgments
The Rice University group acknowledges financial support from a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant EEC-0540832 entitled “Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE)”, and grant C-0586 from the Robert Welch Foundation.
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Kachanov, A., Koulikov, S. & Tittel, F.K. Cavity-enhanced optical feedback-assisted photo-acoustic spectroscopy with a 10.4 μm external cavity quantum cascade laser. Appl. Phys. B 110, 47–56 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-012-5250-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-012-5250-z