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Updated: Jul 6, 2026
Construction and Characterization of External Cavity Diode Lasers for Atomic Physics
Published on: April 24, 2014
Multiplexed continuous-wave diode-laser cavity ringdown measurements of multiple species
G Totschnig1, D S Baer, J Wang
1High Temperature Gasdynamics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. gtotsch@mail.zserv.tuwien.ac.at
Abstract:
Rapid cavity ringdown measurements of multiple broadband absorbing species (methanol and isopropanol) in gas mixtures have been recorded with two multiplexed continuous-wave distributed-feedback diode lasers operating near 1.4 mum. A measurement sensitivity of 2.4 x 10(-9) cm(-1) for a 4.3-s averaging time was achieved in a 39.5-cm-long static cell with 99.94% reflectivity mirrors. This corresponds to a water-vapor detection limit of less than 2 ppb (parts in 10(9)) for the strong H(2)O lines near 1.4 mum. The shot-to-shot noise of the decay time constant tau was approximately 0.3-0.7%, and ringdown acquisition rates as great as 900 Hz were achieved.
