Continued Development Of A Sensitive Mid-IR Cavity Ring-Down Spectrometer Using A Quantum Cascade Laser

Details Continued Development Of A Sensitive Mid-IR Cavity Ring-Down Spectrometer Using A Quantum Cascade Laser Continued Development Of A Sensitive Mid-IR Cavity Ring-Down Spectrometer Using A Quantum Cascade Laser

Nov 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010mwac.meet..p01b&link_type=abstract

"Midwest Astrochemistry Meeting 2010, held 5-6 November at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. http://midwest.astroc

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Since its initial discovery in 1985, it has been postulated that buckminsterfullerene (C60) should be present in space. Over the past 25 years there has been indirect evidence for the presence of extrasolar C60. This indirect evidence comes from the analysis of micrometeorite impact craters from a satellite called the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). Also, studies of the isotopic ratio of Ar found encapsulated in C60 from extinction impact event sediemnts provides indirect evidence for extrasolar source of fullerenes. This past summer emission from C60 in the young planetary nebula Tc1 provided the first direct evidence of C60 in space. This was quickly followed by detection of emission from gas phase C60 pumped by ultraviolet radiation in the reflection nebulae NGC2023 and NGC7023. While these studies have confirmed the presence of C60 in space, it is difficult to use emission to estimate the column density and temperature of the gas phase C60. In the case of emission via UV pumping, the presence of C60 in the gas phase could extend beyond the region of high UV ux. For these reasons, it would be beneficial to search for a C60 absorption signal in the mid-IR.
We are developing a sensitive mid-infrared cavity ringdown spectrometer for acquiring a cold gas phase spectrum of buckminsterfullerene (C60) ~8.5 μm. A high-resolution absorption spectrum of this vibrational band would aid in astronomical searches for a C60 absorption signal. Recently, a significant number of experimental improvements have enhanced both the sensitivity and the resolution of the instrument. The addition of a Fresnel quarter wave rhomb and a wire grid polarizer have mitigated the impact of optical cavity back-reflection on the laser stability and enabled mode-hop free tunability. Finer laser current control has allowed for the collection of spectra with a frequency step resolution of 2 MHz. We have tested the spectrometer by re-scanning &nu8 band of methylene bromide in a slit nozzle expansion. Testing of the high-temperature oven in the project has been done using pyrene (C16H10) with a source temperature up to 400 K.

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