Photoacoustic spectroscopy with quantum cascade distributed-feedback lasers.

We present photoacoustic (PA) spectroscopy measurements of carbon dioxide, methanol, and ammonia. The light source for the excitation was a single-mode quantum cascade distributed-feedback laser, which was operated in pulsed mode at moderate duty cycle and slightly below room temperature. Temperature tuning resulted in a typical wavelength range of 3cm(-1)at a linewidth of 0.2cm(-1). The setup was based on a Herriott multipass arrangement around the PA cell; the cell was equipped with a radial 16-microphone array to increase sensitivity. Despite the relatively small average laser power, the ammonia detection limit was 300 parts in 10(9)by volume.