Sensitivity enhanced NIR photoacoustic CO detection with SF6 promoting vibrational to translational relaxation process

A challenge for slowly relaxing carbon monoxide (CO) molecules detection using photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) is to promote the vibration-translation (V-T) relaxation process. Addressing this challenge, a sensitivity enhanced photoacoustic CO sensor with sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as the promotor is investigated and demonstrated. A 1568 nm near-infrared (NIR) laser diode and a customized optical amplifier are used as the excitation source to generate the photoacoustic signal. A differential photoacoustic cell is simulated and designed to obtain identical laminar flow distribution in the resonant cell to suppress the flow noise. The modulation frequency and added SF6 volume ratio are optimized experimentally to achieve optimal sensitivity. Feasibility and performance of the CO sensor with a small amount of SF6 as promotor is discussed and evaluated, obtaining a ~ 2 times improvement of signal value compared to the one with pure N2 background and resulting in a minimum detection limit of 467.5 ppb for CO detection.