An Innovative Gas Sensor with On-Chip Reference Using Monolithic Twin Laser

An innovative gas sensor with on-chip reference using a monolithic twin laser is proposed. In this sensor a monolithic twin laser generates two closer laser beams with slight different wavelengths alternatively, one photodiode is used to catch both absorption and reference signals by time division multiplexing. The detection of nitrous oxide adopting this scheme using a 2.1μm antimonide laser and an InGaAs photodiode has been demonstrated experimentally with detection limit below 1ppm. Using this on chip reference scheme the fluctuations from the optical path and devices can be compensated effectively; the sensor system is simplified distinctly.