Starter Kit Instruction Manual

Maintenance

54

9.1.3Photoacoustic detection

In the photoacoustic detection, the optical beam is periodically modulated in amplitude before illumi- nating the cell containing the absorbing chemical. The expansion generated by the periodic heating of the chemical creates an acoustic wave which is detected by a microphone.

The two very important advantages of photoa- coustic detection are:

a signal is detected only in the presence of absorption from the molecule;

no mid-IR detectors are needed.

For these reasons, photoacoustic detection has the potential of being cheap and very sensitive. How- ever, ultimate sensitivity is usually limited by the optical power of the source.

a.c. modulation of

Detection of the

the laser amplitude

acoustic wave at w

w

 

QC Laser

Chemical Cell

 

Microphone

Fig.53: Photoacoustic technique

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Quantum Instruments Cascade Laser Starter Kit manual Photoacoustic detection, Photoacoustic technique