Proof of concept for an optogalvanic gas sensor for NO based on Rydberg excitations

TL;DR

This paper presents a proof-of-concept for an optogalvanic NO gas sensor using Rydberg excitations, capable of detecting concentrations below 10 ppm at atmospheric pressure, with potential for further sensitivity improvements.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Rydberg excitation-based optogalvanic sensor for NO detection at room temperature, demonstrating feasibility and initial sensitivity.

Findings

Detects NO concentrations below 10 ppm at atmospheric pressure

Uses 2-photon Rydberg excitation in a helium-NO mixture

Employs a custom high-bandwidth transimpedance amplifier

Abstract

We demonstrate the applicability of 2-photon Rydberg excitations of nitric oxide (NO) at room temperature in a gas mixture with helium (He) as an optogalvanic gas sensor. The charges created initially from succeeding collisions of excited NO Rydberg molecules with free electrons are measured as a current on metallic electrodes inside a glass cell and amplified using a custom-designed highbandwidth transimpedance amplifier attached to the cell. We fnd that this gas sensing method is capable of detecting NO concentrations lower than 10 ppm even at atmospheric pressures, currently only limited by the way we prepare the gas dilutions.