Application of quantum cascade lasers to trace gas analysis

Quantum cascade (QC) lasers are virtually ideal mid-infrared sources for trace gas monitoring. They can be fabricated to operate at any of a very wide range of wavelengths from ∼ 3 μm to ∼ 24 μm. Seizing the opportunity presented by mid-infrared QC lasers, several groups world-wide are actively applying them to trace gas sensing. Real world applications include environmental monitoring, industrial process control and biomedical diagnostics. In our laboratory we have explored the use of several methods for carrying out absorption spectroscopy with these sources, which include multipass absorption spectroscopy, cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS), integrated cavity output spectroscopy (ICOS), and quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS).