Abstract
A 1.2 W, continuous-wave, continuously-tunable, singly-resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) (idler tuning range 3.0–3.8 μm), pumped by a 10 W continuous-wave Nd:YAG laser, is used in combination with a photoacoustic cell for the detection of ethane. An intracavity solid-state etalon (thickness 400 μm) was used to stabilize the OPO cavity and could be used to mode-hop tune the idler wavelength over 10 cm−1. The usefulness of the system was demonstrated by determining a detection limit for ethane down to 10 parts per trillion. The selectivity was achieved by making a 24 GHz wide pump laser scan over the ethane absorption line at 2996.9 cm−1, after which a Lorentzian fit determined the total area of the absorption signal. Both area value and peak value proved to be linearly depending on the ethane concentration.
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