Long-Term Stable Online Acetylene Detection by a CEAS System with Suppression of Cavity Length Drift

Abstract

A trace acetylene (C2H2) detection system was demonstrated using the cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS) technique and a near-infrared distributed feedback (NIR-DFB) laser. A Fabry–Perot (F–P) cavity with an effective optical path length of 49.7 m was sealed and employed as a gas absorption cell. Co-axis cavity alignment geometry was adopted to acquire a larger transmitted light intensity and a higher sensitivity compared with off-axis geometry. The laser frequency was locked to the cavity fundamental mode (TEM00 mode) by using the Pound–Drever–Hall (PDH) technique continuously. By introducing a cavity length-locking loop, the drift of the cavity length was suppressed, and the stability of the system was enhanced. To demonstrate the efficacy of the system, a C2H2 absorption spectrum near 6534.36 cm−1 was acquired by tuning the laser operation temperature. Measurements of C2H2 samples with different concentrations were carried out, and a good linear relationship between C2H2 concentration and the cavity-transmitted signal voltage was observed. The measurement results showed the system could work stably for more than 2 h without major fluctuations. The Allan variance analysis results demonstrated a detection limit of 9 parts-per-billion (ppb) with an averaging time of 11 s corresponding to a minimum detectable absorption coefficient of 1.1 × 10−8 cm−1.