Open Access
17 December 2024 Microscale fiber photoacoustic spectroscopy for in situ and real-time trace gas sensing
Jun Ma, Enbo Fan, Haojie Liu, Yi Zhang, Cong Mai, Xin Li, Wei Jin, Bai-Ou Guan
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Miniaturized laser spectroscopy capable of in situ and real-time ppb-level trace gas sensing is of fundamental importance for numerous applications, including environment monitoring, industry process control, and biomedical diagnosis. Benchtop laser spectroscopy systems based on direct absorption, photoacoustic, and Raman effects exhibit high sensitivity but face challenges for in situ and real-time gas sensing due to their bulky size, slow response, and offline sampling. We demonstrate a microscale high-performance all-fiber photoacoustic spectrometer integrating the key components, i.e., the photoacoustic gas cell and the optical microphone, into a single optical fiber tip with a diameter of 125 μm. Without a long optical path to enhance the light–gas interaction, the fiber-tip gas cell with acoustic-hard boundary tightly confines and amplifies the local photoacoustic wave, compensating for the sensitivity loss during miniaturization. This localized acoustic wave is demodulated by high-sensitivity fiber-optic interferometry, enabling a 9 ppb detection limit for acetylene gas approaching the benchtop system. The microscale fiber spectrometer also exhibits a short response time of 18 ms and a subnanoliter sample volume, not only suitable for routine real-time in situ trace gas measurement but also inspiring new applications such as two-dimensional gas flow concentration mapping and in vivo intravascular blood gas monitoring as showcased.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE and CLP under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Jun Ma, Enbo Fan, Haojie Liu, Yi Zhang, Cong Mai, Xin Li, Wei Jin, and Bai-Ou Guan "Microscale fiber photoacoustic spectroscopy for in situ and real-time trace gas sensing," Advanced Photonics 6(6), 066008 (17 December 2024). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.AP.6.6.066008
Received: 21 July 2024; Accepted: 20 November 2024; Published: 17 December 2024
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KEYWORDS
Staring arrays

Carbon monoxide

Photoacoustic spectroscopy

Acoustics

Acoustic waves

Blood

In situ remote sensing

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