Mid-infrared gas-sensing systems and applications

Due to technological advances, mid-infrared (MIR) gas sensors have gained importance in the last decade. Light sources and detectors for the MIR range have become available at acceptable quality and price levels to a greater extent, and advances in electronics design and packaging allow for sensing systems that are now more reliable, rugged, sensitive, and selective than ever. This certainly opens up new application fields for such gas sensors. This chapter comprises a description of the sensor technologies, both relying on coherent and incoherent MIR sources, and possible application scenarios. The first section gives an insight in the growing market with its high demands, waiting for novel gas sensor devices.