Abstract
Free induction decay signals emitted from Carbon Monoxide (CO) excited by sub-picosecond pulses of Terahertz (THz) radiation are directly measured in the time domain and compared to model calculations using a linear dispersion model to good agreement. Best fitting techniques of the data using the model allow the self-pressure broadening of CO to be measured across a range of absolute pressures, and the rotational constant to be determined. We find B V = 5.770 ± 0.003 × 1010 Hz in agreement with previous measurements. A partial pressure limit of detection for CO of 7900 ppm is estimated at atmosphere through extrapolating the calculated commensurate echo peaks down to low pressures with respect to the RMS noise floor of our THz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) apparatus, which implies a limit of detection in the range of 40 ppm for commercial THz-TDS systems.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and the BC Knowledge and Development Fund. One of the authors (Kilcullen) would like to acknowledge the receipt of an NSERC USRA award that supported this work.
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Kilcullen, P., Hartley, I.D., Jensen, E.T. et al. Terahertz Time Domain Gas-phase Spectroscopy of Carbon Monoxide. J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves 36, 380–389 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-014-0139-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-014-0139-z