Hollow waveguide quantum cascade laser spectrometer as an online microliter sensor for gas chromatography

An optical absorption sensor for gas chromatography (GC) is presented. It consists of a quantum cascade laser along with a long piece of Hollow Waveguide for Infrared (HWIR) transmission inserted into the GC line. It measures the infrared absorption in each individual gas peak after separation by the GC column, and maintains the shapes of gas peaks after the HWIR sensor, making the gas samples further available for other sensors. By adding an inline combustion module before the HWIR sensor, the concentrations of many carbon containing compounds can be acquired by measuring CO2 absorption in their peaks. The HWIR sensor detects isotopologues of CO2 separately, and therefore can be used to measure carbon isotope ratios of heavy compounds. Application of the HWIR sensor to the detection of 13CO2 and CDH3 is described.