State-of-the-art laser technology brings laboratory level accuracy to optical gas sensing

Many contemporary gas detection systems work within the mid-infrared (IR) region of light, or what is commonly known as the “fingerprint zone”. This wavelength range is favoured by many engineers of gas sensing systems because it provides greater levels of interaction between gas molecules and light. The improvement in performance can often be measured in orders of magnitude higher than near-infrared technologies.

However, some mid-IR instrumentation technology uses dangerous materials such as lead or mercury. These hazardous substances may add to the problems that the gas sensing applications are meant to mitigate. such as pollution monitoring. 

Hamamatsu Photonics have been developing innovative products for the optical gas sensing market to overcome these issues. Mid-IR LEDs offer the highest luminous output in the market, thus enabling effective, low-power gas detection systems. Hamamatsu’s InAsSb detectors offer an environmentally-friendly alternative to other non-RoHS compliant mid-infrared detectors. Their solid-state manufacture makes them fast, highly sensitive, they do not need cooling and they provide high economies of scale, so they are an ideal choice for energy efficient LEDs when detecting CO2 or CH4.

High fidelity quantum cascade lasers facilitate today’s most sophisticated gas spectroscopy. Hamamatsu have evolved this technology; bringing the performance of a lab-based system into industrial OEM applications and making precision gas spectroscopy possible at high temperatures with unparalleled dependability.