A high precision pulsed quantum cascade laser spectrometer for measurements of stable isotopes of carbon dioxide

J. B. McManus; D. D. Nelson; J. H. Shorter; R. Jimenez; S. Herndon; S. Saleska; M. Zahniser

doi:10.1080/09500340500303710

A high precision pulsed quantum cascade laser spectrometer for measurements of stable isotopes of carbon dioxide

J. B. McManus, D. D. Nelson, J. H. Shorter, R. Jimenez, S. Herndon, S. Saleska, M. Zahniser

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

66 Scopus citations

Abstract

We describe a prototype instrument using a Peltier cooled quantum cascade laser for precise measurement of stable carbon ( 13 C/ 12 C) isotopologue ratios in atmospheric CO 2 . Using novel optics and signal processing techniques in a compact instrument, we are able to detect the difference between sample and reference with a precision of 0.1‰ (2 standard error of mean of 11 samples) in 10min of analysis time. The standard deviation of 0.18‰ for individual 30s measurements shows that this prototype instrument already approaches the best reported literature values using continuous wave lead alloy tunable diode lasers. The application of pulsed near room-temperature quantum cascade lasers to this demanding problem opens the possibility of field worthy rapid response isotopic instrumentation and attests to the maturity of these lasers as spectroscopic sources.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2309-2321
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Modern Optics
Volume	52
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/09500340500303710
State	Published - Nov 10 2005

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Access to Document

10.1080/09500340500303710

Cite this

@article{f204a226bc574f26baef26a1baea362b,

title = "A high precision pulsed quantum cascade laser spectrometer for measurements of stable isotopes of carbon dioxide",

abstract = "We describe a prototype instrument using a Peltier cooled quantum cascade laser for precise measurement of stable carbon ( 13 C/ 12 C) isotopologue ratios in atmospheric CO 2 . Using novel optics and signal processing techniques in a compact instrument, we are able to detect the difference between sample and reference with a precision of 0.1‰ (2 standard error of mean of 11 samples) in 10min of analysis time. The standard deviation of 0.18‰ for individual 30s measurements shows that this prototype instrument already approaches the best reported literature values using continuous wave lead alloy tunable diode lasers. The application of pulsed near room-temperature quantum cascade lasers to this demanding problem opens the possibility of field worthy rapid response isotopic instrumentation and attests to the maturity of these lasers as spectroscopic sources.",

author = "McManus, {J. B.} and Nelson, {D. D.} and Shorter, {J. H.} and R. Jimenez and S. Herndon and S. Saleska and M. Zahniser",

note = "Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Patrick Kirwin and Jeff Mulholland (Aerodyne Research, Inc.) to the engineering and construction of the QCL spectrometer. We also thank Steve Wofsy and Bruce Daube (Harvard University) and Frank Tittel (Rice University) for valuable advice and discussions. We thank Dan Schrag at Harvard University for isotopic analysis. We thank Antoine Muller, Yargo Bonneti, Guillaume Vanderputte and Stephan Blaser of AlpesLasers for providing the QC laser and other high quality components used in this system. Funding for instrument development has been provided by the US Department of Energy STTR and SBIR programs.",

year = "2005",

month = nov,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1080/09500340500303710",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "52",

pages = "2309--2321",

journal = "Journal of Modern Optics",

issn = "0950-0340",

publisher = "Taylor and Francis Ltd.",

number = "16",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A high precision pulsed quantum cascade laser spectrometer for measurements of stable isotopes of carbon dioxide

AU - McManus, J. B.

AU - Nelson, D. D.

AU - Shorter, J. H.

AU - Jimenez, R.

AU - Herndon, S.

AU - Saleska, S.

AU - Zahniser, M.

N1 - Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Patrick Kirwin and Jeff Mulholland (Aerodyne Research, Inc.) to the engineering and construction of the QCL spectrometer. We also thank Steve Wofsy and Bruce Daube (Harvard University) and Frank Tittel (Rice University) for valuable advice and discussions. We thank Dan Schrag at Harvard University for isotopic analysis. We thank Antoine Muller, Yargo Bonneti, Guillaume Vanderputte and Stephan Blaser of AlpesLasers for providing the QC laser and other high quality components used in this system. Funding for instrument development has been provided by the US Department of Energy STTR and SBIR programs.

PY - 2005/11/10

Y1 - 2005/11/10

N2 - We describe a prototype instrument using a Peltier cooled quantum cascade laser for precise measurement of stable carbon ( 13 C/ 12 C) isotopologue ratios in atmospheric CO 2 . Using novel optics and signal processing techniques in a compact instrument, we are able to detect the difference between sample and reference with a precision of 0.1‰ (2 standard error of mean of 11 samples) in 10min of analysis time. The standard deviation of 0.18‰ for individual 30s measurements shows that this prototype instrument already approaches the best reported literature values using continuous wave lead alloy tunable diode lasers. The application of pulsed near room-temperature quantum cascade lasers to this demanding problem opens the possibility of field worthy rapid response isotopic instrumentation and attests to the maturity of these lasers as spectroscopic sources.

AB - We describe a prototype instrument using a Peltier cooled quantum cascade laser for precise measurement of stable carbon ( 13 C/ 12 C) isotopologue ratios in atmospheric CO 2 . Using novel optics and signal processing techniques in a compact instrument, we are able to detect the difference between sample and reference with a precision of 0.1‰ (2 standard error of mean of 11 samples) in 10min of analysis time. The standard deviation of 0.18‰ for individual 30s measurements shows that this prototype instrument already approaches the best reported literature values using continuous wave lead alloy tunable diode lasers. The application of pulsed near room-temperature quantum cascade lasers to this demanding problem opens the possibility of field worthy rapid response isotopic instrumentation and attests to the maturity of these lasers as spectroscopic sources.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=31444452516&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=31444452516&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/09500340500303710

DO - 10.1080/09500340500303710

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:31444452516

SN - 0950-0340

VL - 52

SP - 2309

EP - 2321

JO - Journal of Modern Optics

JF - Journal of Modern Optics

IS - 16

ER -

A high precision pulsed quantum cascade laser spectrometer for measurements of stable isotopes of carbon dioxide

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this