Cavity enhanced laser based isotopic gas analyzer

A gas analyzer system for measuring an isotopic ratio of a gas, the system comprising:

• a resonant optical cavity having two or more mirrors and containing a gas having a chemical species to be measured, the cavity having a free spectral range that equals the difference between frequencies of the measured absorption lines of two different isotopes divided onto an integer number;
• a continuous-wave tunable laser optically coupled to the resonant optical cavity;
• a detector system for measuring an absorption of laser light by the gas in the cavity;
• and
• an intelligence module adapted to determine an isotope ratio of the two different isotopes,
• wherein the laser is tuned to a first wavelength corresponding to an absorption line of a first one of the two isotopes and the detector system measures a first signal corresponding to an absorption at the first wavelength, wherein the laser is tuned to a second wavelength corresponding to an absorption line of a second one of the two isotopes and the detector system measures a second signal corresponding to an absorption at the second wavelength, and wherein the intelligence module processes the first and second signals and generates an output signal representing an isotope ratio of the two different isotopes.

A gas analyzer system for measuring concentrations of isotopes in a gas, the system comprising:

• a resonant optical cavity having two or more mirrors and containing a gas having a chemical species to be measured, the cavity having a free spectral range that equals the difference between frequencies of the measured absorption lines of two different isotopes of the chemical species divided onto an integer number;
• a continuous-wave tunable laser optically coupled to the resonant optical cavity;
• a detector system for measuring an absorption of laser light by the gas in the cavity and
• an intelligence module adapted to determine concentrations of the two different isotopes,
• wherein the laser is tuned to a first wavelength corresponding to an absorption line of a first one of the two isotopes and the detector system measures a first signal corresponding to an absorption at the first wavelength, wherein the laser is tuned to a second wavelength corresponding to an absorption line of a second one of the two isotopes and the detector system measures a second signal corresponding to an absorption at the second wavelength, and wherein the intelligence module processes the first and second signals and generates an output signal representing concentrations of the first and second isotopes.