Fourier-Transform Laser Spectroscopy

The development of microphotonic sensors based on Fourier-transform laser spectroscopy (FT-LS) is discussed. The application demonstrated is for measurement of vapors from the hydrocarbon fuels JP-8, diesel fuel, and gasoline. The two-laser prototype FT-LS sensor used for our research employs distributed-feedback lasers in the near-infrared spectral region (1.3- and 1.7- (mu)m wavelength). An extension of this research to multilaser arrays is discussed. We believe that this is the first measurement of middle-distillate fuel-vapor concentrations using this optical mixing technique.