Hongpeng Wu

Quartz enhanced photoacoustic H2S gas sensor based on a fiber-amplifier source and a custom tuning fork with large prong spacing

A quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor, employing an erbium-doped fiber amplified laser source and a custom quartz tuning fork (QTF) with its two prongs spaced ∼800 μm apart, is reported. The sensor employs an acoustic micro-resonator (AmR) which is assembled in an “on-beam” QEPAS configuration. Both length and vertical position of the AmR are optimized in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, significantly improving the QEPAS detection sensitivity by a factor of ∼40, compared to the case of a sensor using a bare custom QTF. The fiber-amplifier-enhanced QEPAS sensor is applied to H2S trace gas detection, reaching a sensitivity of ∼890 ppb at 1 s integration time, similar to those obtained with a power-enhanced QEPAS sensor equipped with a standard QTF, but with the advantages of easy optical alignment, simple installation, and long-term stability.

Double acoustic microresonator quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy

Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) based on double acoustic microresonators (AmRs) is developed and experimentally investigated. The double AmR spectrophone configuration exhibits a strong acoustic coupling between the AmR and the quartz tuning fork, which results in a ∼5  ms fast response time. Moreover, the double AmRs provide two independent detection channels that allow optical signal addition or cancellation from different optical wavelengths and facilitate rapid multigas sensing measurements, thereby avoiding laser beam combination.

Single-tube on-beam quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy

Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) with a single-tube acoustic microresonator (AmR) inserted between the prongs of a custom quartz tuning fork (QTF) was developed, investigated, and optimized experimentally. Due to the high acoustic coupling efficiency between the AmR and the QTF, the single-tube on-beam QEPAS spectrophone configuration improves the detection sensitivity by 2 orders of magnitude compared to a bare QTF. This approach significantly reduces the spectrophone size with respect to the traditional on-beam spectrophone configuration, thereby facilitating the laser beam alignment. A 1σ normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient of 1.21×10(-8) cm(-1)·W/√Hz was obtained for dry CO2 detection at normal atmospheric pressure.

Compact TDLAS based sensor design using interband cascade lasers for mid-IR trace gas sensing

Two compact TDLAS sensor systems based on different structural optical cores were developed. The two optical cores combine two recent developments, gallium antimonide (GaSb)-based ICL and a compact multipass gas cell (MPGC) with the goal to create compact TDLAS based sensors for the mid-IR gas detection with high detection sensitivity and low power consumption. The sensors achieved minimum detection limits of ~5 ppbv and ~8 ppbv, respectively, for CH4 and C2H6 concentration measurements with a 3.7-W power consumption.

Beat frequency quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy for fast and calibration-free continuous trace-gas monitoring

Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) is a sensitive gas detection technique which requires frequent calibration and has a long response time. Here we report beat frequency (BF) QEPAS that can be used for ultra-sensitive calibration-free trace-gas detection and fast spectral scan applications. The resonance frequency and Q-factor of the quartz tuning fork (QTF) as well as the trace-gas concentration can be obtained simultaneously by detecting the beat frequency signal generated when the transient response signal of the QTF is demodulated at its non-resonance frequency. Hence, BF-QEPAS avoids a calibration process and permits continuous monitoring of a targeted trace gas. Three semiconductor lasers were selected as the excitation source to verify the performance of the BF-QEPAS technique. The BF-QEPAS method is capable of measuring lower trace-gas concentration levels with shorter averaging times as compared to conventional PAS and QEPAS techniques and determines the electrical QTF parameters precisely.

Impact of Humidity on Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Based CO Detection Using a Near-IR Telecommunication Diode Laser

A near-IR CO trace gas sensor based on quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) is evaluated using humidified nitrogen samples. Relaxation processes in the CO-N2-H2O system are investigated. A simple kinetic model is used to predict the sensor performance at different gas pressures. The results show that CO has a ~3 and ~5 times slower relaxation time constant than CH4 and HCN, respectively, under dry conditions. However, with the presence of water, its relaxation time constant can be improved by three orders of magnitude. The experimentally determined normalized detection sensitivity for CO in humid gas is 1.556×10−8 W⋅cm−1/Hz1/2.

Fiber-Amplifier-Enhanced QEPAS Sensor for Simultaneous Trace Gas Detection of NH3 and H2S

A selective and sensitive quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor, employing an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), and a distributed feedback (DFB) laser operating at 1582 nm was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Two interference-free absorption lines located at 6322.45 cm−1 and 6328.88 cm−1 for NH3 and H2S detection, respectively, were identified. The sensor was optimized in terms of current modulation depth for both of the two target gases. An electrical modulation cancellation unit was equipped to suppress the background noise caused by the stray light. An Allan-Werle variance analysis was performed to investigate the long-term performance of the fiber-amplifier-enhanced QEPAS sensor. Benefitting from the high power boosted by the EDFA, a detection sensitivity (1σ) of 52 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) and 17 ppbv for NH3 and H2S, respectively, were achieved with a 132 s data acquisition time at atmospheric pressure and room temperature.

Scattered light modulation cancellation method for sub-ppb-level NO 2 detection in a LD-excited QEPAS system.

A sub-ppb-level nitrogen dioxide (NO2) QEPAS sensor is developed by use of a cost-effective wide stripe laser diode (LD) emitting at 450 nm and a novel background noise suppression method called scattered light modulation cancellation method (SL-MOCAM). The SL-MOCAM is a variant of modulation spectroscopy using two light sources: excitation and balance light sources. The background noise caused by the stray light of the excitation light sources can be eliminated by exposing the QEPAS spectrophone to the modulated balance light. The noise in the LD-excited QEPAS system is investigated in detail and the results shows that > ~90% background noise can be effectively eliminated by the SL-MOCAM. For NO2 detection, a 1σ detection limit of ~60 ppb is achieved for 1 s integration time and the detection limit can be improved to 0.6 ppb with an integration time of 360 s. Moreover, the SLMOCAM shows a remote working ability in the preliminary investigation.

Compact photoacoustic module for methane detection incorporating interband cascade light emitting device

A photoacoustic module (PAM) for methane detection was developed by combining a novel 3.2 μm interband cascade light emitting device (ICLED) with a compact differential photoacoustic cell. The ICLED with a 22-stage interband cascade active core emitted a collimated power of ~700 μW. A concave Al-coat reflector was positioned adjacent to the photoacoustic cell to enhance the gas absorption length. Assembly of the ICLED and reflector with the photoacoustic cell resulted in a robust and portable PAM without any moving parts. The PAM performance was evaluated in terms of operating pressure, sensitivity and linearity. A 1σ detection limit of 3.6 ppmv was achieved with a 1-s integration time.

Simultaneous dual-gas QEPAS detection based on a fundamental and overtone combined vibration of quartz tuning fork

A dual-gas quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor system based on a frequency division multiplexing technique of a quartz tuning fork (QTF) was developed and experimentally demonstrated. Two beams from two independently modulated lasers are focused at two different positions between the QTF prongs to excite both the QTF fundamental and 1st overtone flexural modes simultaneously. The 2f-wavelength modulation technique is employed by applying two sinusoidal dithers, whose frequencies are equal to a half of the QTF fundamental and 1st overtone frequencies, respectively, to the currents of two excitation lasers. The resonance frequency difference between two flexural modes ensures that the correlated photoacoustic signals generated by different target gases do not interfere with each other. The proposed QEPAS methodology realizes a continuous real-time dual-gas monitoring with a simple setup and small sensor size compared with previous multi-gas QEPAS sensors.