Improved QEPAS sensor based on quartz tuning fork shell enhancement

IF 3.4 3区物理与天体物理 Q2 INSTRUMENTS & INSTRUMENTATION

Infrared Physics & Technology Pub Date : 2025-09-11 DOI:10.1016/j.infrared.2025.106147

Qiannan Cai, Ting Fang, Shufeng Yong, Dingli Xu, Gang Zhang, Qiang Ge, Linguang Xu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This paper presents a novel metal shell–enhanced quartz tuning fork (QTF) detector for low-cost, high-sensitivity photoacoustic gas sensing. A dual-resonance quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) technique is developed by integrating a micro-resonator tube with this modified QTF structure. To validate the approach, a compact gas detection system was implemented, utilizing the proposed QTF detector combined with wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS). This system demonstrates enhanced detection sensitivity and superior stability compared to conventional QEPAS configurations. Preliminary performance verification with water vapor (H₂O) as the target analyte revealed that the metal shell-enhanced structure increased the second-harmonic signal amplitude by a factor of 4.6 compared with the bare QTF. Furthermore, the dual-resonance configuration achieves an approximately 10-fold signal enhancement. At standard atmospheric pressure, the system attains a normalized noise-equivalent absorption coefficient (NNEA) of 1.79 × 10⁻⁹ cm⁻¹·W⁻¹·Hz^−1/2, demonstrating high sensitivity and feasibility for trace gas detection. In addition, methane was employed as an additional test gas to further evaluate the stability of the system. The experimental results demonstrated that the dual-resonance QEPAS sensor exhibited an excellent linear response to CH₄ concentration variations (R² = 0.999). According to the Allan–Werle deviation analysis, the detection limit was determined to be 43.43 ppm at an integration time of 1 s. It could be further reduced to 9.36 ppm at the optimal integration time of 45 s.

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基于石英音叉壳增强的改进QEPAS传感器

本文提出了一种新型的金属壳增强石英音叉（QTF）探测器，用于低成本、高灵敏度的光声气体传感。将微谐振管与改进后的石英增强光声光谱（QEPAS）结构集成在一起，开发了一种双共振石英增强光声光谱技术。为了验证该方法，利用所提出的QTF探测器结合波长调制光谱（WMS）实现了一个紧凑的气体检测系统。与传统的QEPAS配置相比，该系统具有更高的检测灵敏度和优越的稳定性。以水蒸气（H2O）为目标分析物的初步性能验证表明，金属壳增强结构与裸QTF相比，二次谐波信号幅度增加了4.6倍。此外，双共振结构实现了大约10倍的信号增强。在标准大气压下，该系统的归一化噪声等效吸收系数（NNEA）为1.79 × 10−9 cm−1·W−1·Hz−1/2，显示了痕量气体检测的高灵敏度和可行性。此外，甲烷作为附加测试气体，进一步评价系统的稳定性。实验结果表明，双共振QEPAS传感器对CH4浓度变化具有良好的线性响应（R2 = 0.999）。经Allan-Werle偏差分析，积分时间为1 s，检出限为43.43 ppm。在最佳积分时间为45 s时，可进一步降低到9.36 ppm。

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来源期刊

Infrared Physics & Technology 物理-光学

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

12.10%

发文量

400

审稿时长

67 days

期刊介绍： The Journal covers the entire field of infrared physics and technology: theory, experiment, application, devices and instrumentation. Infrared'' is defined as covering the near, mid and far infrared (terahertz) regions from 0.75um (750nm) to 1mm (300GHz.) Submissions in the 300GHz to 100GHz region may be accepted at the editors discretion if their content is relevant to shorter wavelengths. Submissions must be primarily concerned with and directly relevant to this spectral region. Its core topics can be summarized as the generation, propagation and detection, of infrared radiation; the associated optics, materials and devices; and its use in all fields of science, industry, engineering and medicine. Infrared techniques occur in many different fields, notably spectroscopy and interferometry; material characterization and processing; atmospheric physics, astronomy and space research. Scientific aspects include lasers, quantum optics, quantum electronics, image processing and semiconductor physics. Some important applications are medical diagnostics and treatment, industrial inspection and environmental monitoring.