Abstract
A pulsed optical parametric oscillator (OPO) operated in an optical cavity with a grazing-incidence grating configuration (GIOPO) was used for sensitive photoacoustic detection of trace quantities of dinitrogen oxide (N2O). The (ν1+ν3) combination vibration band of N2O was excited with the idler beam of the GIOPO at 2.86 μm using an optical cavity optimized for the idler beam. The linewidth of the GIOPO could be reduced to 0.4 cm-1, allowing the rotational structure of the absorption spectrum to be resolved. A concentration sensitivity (signal-to-noise ratio=3) of 60 parts in 109 by volume (60 ppb V) N2O in synthetic air was obtained. This may be sufficient for continuous monitoring of N2O in the atmosphere.
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