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Frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down spectrometer for high-sensitivity measurements of water vapor concentration

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Abstract

We present a portable spectrometer that uses the frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down spectroscopy technique capable of high-precision measurements of trace water vapor concentration. Measuring one of the strongest rovibrational transitions in the ν1+ν3 water vapor combination band near ˜ν=7181.156 cm-1, we compare spectroscopic and thermodynamic determinations of trace water vapor in N2, and find systematic differences attributable to water vapor background effects and/or uncertainties in line intensities. We also compare the frequency-stabilized ring-down method with other cavity ring-down approaches that are based on unstabilized probe lasers and unstabilized ring-down cavities. We show that for the determination of water vapor concentration, the frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down method has the minimum measurement uncertainty of these techniques. The minimum noise-equivalent absorption coefficient of the spectrometer was 1.2×10-10 cm-1 Hz-1/2, which further corresponds to a minimum detectable water vapor mole fraction equal to 0.7×10-9 for an absorption spectrum of 10 minutes duration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USA

    J.T. Hodges & D. Lisak

  2. Instytut Fizyki, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, ul. Grudziadzka 5/7, 87-100, Toruń, Poland

    D. Lisak

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  1. J.T. Hodges
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  2. D. Lisak
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Correspondence to J.T. Hodges.

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PACS

33.20.-t; 33.70.Jg; 33.70.Fd; 42.62.Fi

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Hodges, J., Lisak, D. Frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down spectrometer for high-sensitivity measurements of water vapor concentration. Appl. Phys. B 85, 375–382 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-006-2411-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-006-2411-y

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