Abstract

UV laser fluorescence detection of trace atmospheric gases under airborne conditions has been proven to be capable of detecting atmospheric OH in the sub-part-per-trillion (ppt) range.¹ This system used a Nd:YAG pumped dye laser to produce <.5 mJ at 2819Å (via SHG) in order to pump the v′=−1 manifold of the A²Σ⁺ excited state of OH. The resulting fluorescence was monitored at 3095Å using a high throughput optical collection scheme. Davis, et al. recently reported the requirements necessary for detecting ppt levels of the atmospheric trace gases NO, SO₂ and CH₂O based on their already proven OH detection system.² Presented here are the experimental details of such a system which has detected NO at the ppt level under atmospheric conditions.

© 1980 Optical Society of America