Ba. Patterson et al., DETECTION OF BENZENE AND OTHER GASES WITH AN OPEN-PATH, STATIC FOURIER-TRANSFORM UV SPECTROMETER, Applied optics, 37(15), 1998, pp. 3172-3175
Releases of benzene and other gases have been detected and quantified
using a novel optical, open-path instrument based on a deuterium light
source and a static Fourier-transform spectrometer, The spectrometer
uses Wollaston prisms to form an interferogram in the spatial domain t
hat is recorded by use of a detector array. The instrument is designed
to operate in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum between 200 and
270 nm, which coincides with strong absorption features in the spectra
of many gases of environmental and health interest. Using the instrum
ent with a 5-s measurement period provides a path-integrated concentra
tion sensitivity to benzene of 2 parts in 10(6) times meter, which cor
responds to a 20-parts in 10(9) detection limit over a typical path le
ngth of 100 m. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.