Intensity Modulated Photothermal Measurements of NO<sub>2</sub> with a Compact Fiber-Coupled Fabry–Pérot Interferometer

Sensors for the reliable measurement of nitrogen dioxide concentrations are of high interest due the adverse health effects of this pollutant. This work employs photothermal spectroscopy to measure nitrogen dioxide concentrations at the parts per billion level. Absorption induced temperature changes...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Philipp Breitegger, Benjamin Lang, Alexander Bergmann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-07-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/15/3341
Description
Summary:Sensors for the reliable measurement of nitrogen dioxide concentrations are of high interest due the adverse health effects of this pollutant. This work employs photothermal spectroscopy to measure nitrogen dioxide concentrations at the parts per billion level. Absorption induced temperature changes are detected by means of a fiber-coupled Fabry&#8722;P&#233;rot interferometer. The small size of the interferometer enables small detection volumes, paving the way for miniaturized sensing concepts as well as fast response times, demonstrated down to 3 s. A normalized noise equivalent absorption of <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <mn>7.5</mn> <mo>&#215;</mo> <msup> <mn>10</mn> <mrow> <mo>&#8722;</mo> <mn>8</mn> </mrow> </msup> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> cm<sup>&#8722;1</sup>W/<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msqrt> <mi>Hz</mi> </msqrt> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> is achieved. Additionally, due to the rigid structure of the interferometer, the sensitivity to mechanical vibrations is shown to be minor.
ISSN:1424-8220