AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    In-Situ Spectroscopy and Microscopy Focus Topic Thursday Sessions
       Session IS-ThP

Paper IS-ThP3
Quantum Cascade Laser Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy: New Method for the Characterization and Detection of Aerosols

Thursday, November 13, 2014, 6:00 pm, Room Hall D

Session: In-Situ Spectroscopy and Microscopy Poster Session
Presenter: Angela Buonaugurio, Excet, Inc./Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
Authors: E.M. Durke, Excet, Inc./Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
A.M. Buonaugurio, Excet, Inc./Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
J.M. Edmonds, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
Correspondent: Click to Email
Aerosolized chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) are potential threats for the warfighter, resulting in the need for aerosol identification and detection for further developments in protection and mitigation. One of the most reliable techniques for the identification of trace gas species is absorption spectroscopy. Cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) is a highly sensitive and selective absorption method with the ability to detect trace levels of chemical species. Its advantage is based on the extremely long effective path length, providing precise detection of the rate of decay of light from a high finesse optical cavity to directly measure the absorption of the trace gas. The mid-wave (MWIR) and long-wave (LWIR) infrared regions are of particular interest due to the characteristic rotovibrational absorption bands exhibited in these regions for identification of a species. Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) have the capability of emitting both infrared wavelength regions, of 3-8 µm and 8-15 µm, respectively. During the first year of this multi year effort, we have developed a new method for the characterization of aerosols by combining the highly powerful spectroscopic method of cavity ring down spectroscopy and the ability to detect in the IR fingerprint region using quantum cascade lasers for identification. This novel technique results in in-situ investigations of chemical aerosols. The development of this method and preliminary data on accepted test vapors and simulants, leading up to aerosols of chemical warfare agents, are presented.