Detection of benzene and toluene gases using a midinfrared continuous-wave external cavity quantum cascade laser at atmospheric pressure.

We demonstrate the application of a commercially available widely tunable continuous-wave external cavity quantum cascade laser as a spectroscopic source for the simultaneous detection of multiple gases. We measured broad absorption features of benzene and toluene between 1012 and 1063 cm(-1) (9.88 and 9.41 microm) at atmospheric pressure using an astigmatic Herriott multipass cell. Our results show experimental detection limits of 0.26 and 0.41 ppm for benzene and toluene, respectively, with a 100 m path length for these two gases.