Ultra-wide range and wavelength fixed trace gas detection technology based on single chamber multiplexing

Abstract

The all-fiber photo-thermal interference (PTI) system based on hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) has the advantages of wide dynamic range, ultra-sensitivity, and small volume, which is of great significance in gas trace analysis. Most of the previous PTI systems obtain the relationship between gas concentration and phase modulation by wavelength scanning and extracting the second harmonic signal absorbed by the gas. However, the residual modulation caused by the asynchronism between wavelength and modulation signal seriously affects the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and dynamic detection range of the system. In addition, wavelength scanning has limitations for detecting gas with irregular absorption lines. This paper proposes an all-fiber photo-thermal interference system with pump intensity external modulation. The system is not limited by the gas absorption line and has a high SNR. The factors affecting the dynamic range of the system are analyzed theoretically and experimentally. It is verified that increasing the injection gas pressure can significantly increase the detection limit of the system compared with increasing the pump light power. The redshift of the pump light can dramatically increase the detection limit of the system. A C2H2 gas trace system with the pump wavelength redshifted to 1530.41 nm was demonstrated. The detection lower limit of 9.24 ppm and an extensive dynamic detection range of five orders of magnitude were obtained.