Holographic chemical vapor sensor
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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Uncovering Hidden Dynamics of Natural Photonic Structures Using Holographic Imaging
Published on: March 31, 2022
Hongke Ye1, Oyvind Nilsen, Victor M Bright
1Department of Physics and JILA, National Institute for Standards and Technology, JILA UCB 440, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.
Abstract:
A holographic interferometer senses vapor-induced optical path length changes in polymer or other chemically sensitive films. The interferometer is inherently sensitive to changes in chemical vapor content, self-compensates for drifts, and accommodates a large array of sensor elements. A sniff-locked-loop synchronous detection method takes advantage of the interferometer's rapid response to achieve vapor concentration sensitivity in the parts-per-billion (ppb, parts in 10(9)) range. We demonstrate, for example, 40 ppb sensitivity to ethyl alcohol using poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) with a measurement time of 5 s.
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