AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Quantum Cascade Laser Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy: New Method for the Characterization and Detection of Aerosols
ANGELA M. BUONAUGURIO, John M. Nilles, Erin M. Durke, Tiffany Sutton, EXCET Inc./ Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
Abstract Number: 66 Working Group: Aerosol Physics
Abstract 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. We have developed a new method for the characterization of aerosols by combining the highly powerful spectroscopic method of CRDS and the ability to detect in the infrared (IR) fingerprint region using QCLs 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 CWAs, are presented.