Fiber-Optic Photoacoustic Gas Sensor with Multiplexed Fabry–Pérot Interferometric Cantilevers

A fiber-optic photoacoustic (PA) gas sensor with multiplexed Fabry-Pérot (F-P) interferometric cantilevers is demonstrated. A compact cylindrical nonresonant PA tube with a volume of only 0.45 mL is designed. The PA signal is measured by two symmetrically installed fiber-optic interferometric cantilever microphones (FOICMs) to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). For multiplexing the two cantilevers by a single demodulation system, a dual cavity length synchronous measurement method based on total-phase demodulation algorithm with ultrahigh resolution is developed. The PA signal detection is realized by the second-harmonic wavelength modulation spectroscopy (2f-WMS) technique. The sensor performance is verified by conducting the detection of trace acetylene (C2H2). The normalized noise equivalent absorption (NNEA) coefficient is 2.5 × 10-9 cm-1·W·Hz-1/2, and the minimum detection limit (MDL) downs to about 0.2 ppm with an averaging time of 1 s. The fiber-optic PA gas sensor has characteristics of high resolution and immunity to electromagnetic and vibration interference. Furthermore, the technical scheme of the multiplexed cantilever demodulation shows great potential for remote multipoint monitoring of gases in harsh environments.