Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Construction and Characterization of External Cavity Diode Lasers for Atomic Physics
Published on: April 24, 2014
Real-time standoff detection of nitrogen isotopes in ammonia plumes using a swept external cavity quantum cascade
Abstract:
A swept-wavelength external cavity quantum cascade laser is used to measure time-resolved NH315 and NH314 concentrations and isotope ratios in a turbulent plume source located at 10 m standoff distance. Measurements show excellent agreement with expected values of isotope ratios for samples with natural and enriched N15 abundance. Detection sensitivity of 150 ppb*m is demonstrated for a 50 ms measurement interval, improving to 10 ppb*m with 10 s averaging, with isotopic precision as good as 0.8%.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
The Nitrogen Cycle
Quantum Numbers
Intracellular Signaling Cascades
Isotopes
An element's atomic mass, or weight,...
Elements: Chemical Symbols and Isotopes
Some symbols are derived from the common English name of the element; others are abbreviations of the name in another language — Latin, Greek or German. For example, the symbol for aluminum (common name)...
Rab Cascades

