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:
Dec. 03, 2013
Filed:
Sep. 07, 2011
Eric R. Statz, Somerville, MA (US);
Alan E. Decew, Jr., West Newton, MA (US);
Jonathan B. Ashcom, Cambridge, MA (US);
Eric R. Statz, Somerville, MA (US);
Alan E. DeCew, Jr., West Newton, MA (US);
Jonathan B. Ashcom, Cambridge, MA (US);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A gas detector includes a receiver configured to receive light from a light source through gas, the light source having a bandwidth on the order of an absorption linewidth of the gas, the receiver including at least a first etalon having a transmission bandwidth on the order of the absorption linewidth of the gas, the transmission bandwidth of the first etalon being substantially smaller than the bandwidth of the light source. The gas detector further includes a first detector for detecting light transmitted through the first etalon, a second detector for detecting light reflected from the first etalon, and a processor that determines the quantity of gas based on the detected transmitted and reflected light. The gas detector can further include a second etalon with a transmission bandwidth approximately equal and adjacent to the transmission bandwidth of the first etalon. Alternatively, the gas detector can include a beam separator that separates the light from the light source into a first beam and a second beam, with a small deflection angle between the first beam and the second beam, thereby modifying the effective thickness of a single optical element for each beam and forming the first and second etalon in the optical element.