The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 08, 2011
Filed:
Jun. 22, 2007
C. Kumar N. Patel, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Ilya Dunayevskiy, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Manu Prasanna, Marina del Rey, CA (US);
Rowel C. Go, Carson, CA (US);
Alexei Tsekoun, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Michael Pushkarsky, San Diego, CA (US);
Richard Maulini, Los Angeles, CA (US);
C. Kumar N. Patel, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Ilya Dunayevskiy, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Manu Prasanna, Marina del Rey, CA (US);
Rowel C. Go, Carson, CA (US);
Alexei Tsekoun, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Michael Pushkarsky, San Diego, CA (US);
Richard Maulini, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Pranalytica, Inc., Santa Monica, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for broad tuning of single wavelength quantum cascade lasers and the use of light output from such lasers for highly sensitive detection of trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide, acetylene, and vapors of explosives such as trinitrotoluene (TNT) and triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and TATP's precursors including acetone and hydrogen peroxide. These methods and apparatus are also suitable for high sensitivity, high selectivity detection of other chemical compounds including chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals. A quantum cascade laser (QCL) system that better achieves single mode, continuous, mode-hop free tuning for use in L-PAS (laser photoacoustic spectroscopy) by independently coordinating gain chip current, diffraction grating angle and external cavity length is described. An all mechanical method that achieves similar performance is also described. Additionally, methods for improving the sensor performance by critical selection of wavelengths are presented.