Application of antimonide diode lasers in photoacoustic spectroscopy

First investigations of photoacoustic (PA) spectroscopy (PAS) of methane using an antimonide semiconductor laser are reported. The laser fabrication is made in two steps. The structure is firstly grown by molecular beam epitaxy, then a metallic distributed-feedback (DFB) grating is processed. The laser operates at 2371.6 nm in continuous wave and at room temperature. It demonstrates single-mode emission with typical tuning coefficients of 0.04 nm mA(-1) and 0.2 nm K(-1). PA detection of methane was performed by coupling this laser into a radial PA cell. A detection limit of 20 ppm has been achieved in a preliminary configuration that was not optimised for the laser characteristics.