Simultaneous detection of CH4 and CO2 through dual modulation off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy

Abstract

This study established a novel method for the simultaneous detection of two-component gases. Radio frequency (RF) white noise disturbance laser current and wavelength modulation were simultaneously used to improve the off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy technique, and a high-precision dual modulation OA-ICOS (RF-WM-OA-ICOS) system was established. The two laser beams were coupled into one laser beam that was applied incident to the cavity of RF-WM-OA-ICOS system. The second harmonic signals of CH4 and CO2 gas simultaneously appeared in the rising or falling edge of a triangular wave. This method was used to measure CH4 and CO2 with different concentrations. The results indicated that the proposed system has high stability and can accurately and simultaneously measure the concentrations of CH4 and CO2, with an optimal integration time of 220 s. The minimum detection limit was 10 ppb for CH4 and 1.5 ppm for CO2. The corresponding noise equivalent absorption sensitivity values were calculated as 2.67 × 10−13 cm−1⋅Hz−1/2 and 5.18 × 10−11 cm−1⋅Hz−1/2, respectively. The proposed dual-component gas simultaneous detection method can also be used for high-precision simultaneous detection of other gases. Therefore, this study may serve as a reference for developing portable multicomponent gas analyzers.