GASPARD

With the proliferation of applications requiring gas detection (safety, industry, health, environment), the need for versatile, compact and sensitive sensors has grown.

The most common solutions for performing these measurements are based on electrochemical technologies, flame ionisation or chemiluminescence, mass spectroscopy, and various optical methods, including photoacoustics. The latter technique consists of detecting the pressure waves generated by the ‘absorption/relaxation’ process taking place in gas molecules, at the frequency of the LASER excitation modulation.

The photoacoustic detector is the heart of a real-time gas trace analyser. GASPARD offers an acoustic detector that incorporates the following innovations:
• A patented quartz resonator, offering simple and robust integration with the light source and effective background noise suppression.
• A proprietary acousto-optic cavity, enabling signal amplification and offering simple and robust integration with the light source and quartz resonator.
• A patented closed-loop detection scheme, ensuring reliable operation under variable conditions (pressure, humidity, temperature) and implemented on FPGA. There is no need to calibrate the detector before measurement.

Sensitivity in the ppb/sub-ppb range;
Achromatic detector suitable for various light sources:
• Laser diodes or quantum cascade lasers for infrared detection;
• Low-cost LED sources in UV, VIS or IR;
• Can be coupled with OPO, VCSEL, etc.
Stable detection with a robust and compact device;
Multi-gas detection.