Abstract
Pulsed laser resonant photoacoustic spectroscopy was applied for detection of highly toxic SO2 with 266 nm as the excitation source. An extra-cavity longitudinal resonant cell, was designed and fabricated to enhance the sensitivity of the system, which is capable of detecting the trace amount of SO2. As a process of signal-to-noise ratio optimization, the parametric dependence of the PA signal was carried out and the sensitivity achieved with our system was as low as 4 ppb, which is considered to be a sufficient level for the detection of ambient SO2 in the atmosphere. This study could be an antecedent for the design of a portable SO2 sensor.
Acknowledgments
The support by the Physics Departments and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals under project # SABIC 2005/11 is gratefully acknowledged.