Trace Moisture Measurement with 5.2 μm Quantum Cascade Laser Based Continuous-Wave Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy

Abstract

Trace moisture concentration in high-purity gases is an important parameter in semiconductor manufacturing because many manufacturing processes are sensitive to moisture even on the level of parts per billion by volume (ppbv). Detection of trace moisture in mid-infrared spectral region is beneficial due to more abundant and stronger spectral lines in this region. Recently, Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) with high output power, narrow line-width, and high reliability have been developing rapidly and have become promising light sources for sensitive spectroscopic measurements. By employing a 5.2 μm external-cavity tunable quantum cascade laser, a continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) experimental setup is established and applied to detect trace moisture in high-purity nitrogen gas. In the experiment, the CRDS signal is averaged to improve the detection sensitivity, and the optimal averaging number is determined by Allan variance calculation to be 602. For trace moisture detection, the absorption cross-section of H(2)O in the spectral range between 1 905 and 1 925 cm(-1) is simulated according to the HITRAN database and the optimal detection spectral line is chosen. Detected at 1 918 cm(-1) absorption line at 296 K temperature and 1 atm pressure, the measured moisture concentration is in good agreement with the nominal value, and the minimum detectable moisture concentration of 24.8 ppbv is achieved when cavity mirrors with reflectance of 99.93% are used. The experimental results show that mid-infrared cavity ring-down spectroscopy technique has great potential in a wide variety of applications, such as industrial production control, environmental monitoring and health diagnosis, etc.