A field deployable Compound Specific Isotope Analyzer (CSIA) coupled with capillary chromatogrpahy based on Quantum Cascade (QC) lasers and Hollow Waveguide (HWG) with precision and chemical resolution matching mature Mass Spectroscopy has been achieved in our laboratory. The system could realize 0.3 per mil accuracy for 12C/13C for a Gas Chromatography (GC) peak lasting as short as 5 seconds with carbon molar concentration in the GC peak less than 0.5%. Spectroscopic advantages of HWG when working with QC lasers, i.e. single mode transmission, noiseless measurement and small sample volume, are compared with traditional free space and multipass spectroscopy methods.

Date Published: 4 February 2013
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8631, Quantum Sensing and Nanophotonic Devices X, 86310D (4 February 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2003261

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8631:
Quantum Sensing and Nanophotonic Devices X
Manijeh Razeghi, Editor(s)