Cavity-ringdown spectroscopy gets software package

January 18, 2006, Mountain View, CA--Los Gatos Research (LGR) has released a software package designed for researchers who use cavity-ringdown (CRD) spectroscopy. The package provides CRD data acquisition and analysis using a Windows-based computer and a high-speed data-acquisition card (a Gage card, by Gage Applied Technologies of Lachine, Quebec, Canada).

In CRD, a high-finesse optical cavity is filled with the substance to be analyzed; even minute absorbance of light can be assessed by measuring the exponential decay of the output from the cavity. In the LGR software package, the exponential-voltage ringdowns are captured with the Gage card and processed using LGR's preprocessor and (least-squares) fitting algorithms. This software is provided as a stand-alone executable, and also as a LabView VI.

For those users who need "out-of-the-box" functionality or do not need any customization, the executable LGR CRD program provides a simple interface for aligning, evaluating, and data logging a CRD setup. By wrapping these algorithms in a LabView shell, LGR has also provided a flexible, modifiable and efficient starting point for users who wish to customize a cavity-ringdown data-acquisition system to their specific needs.

Los Gatos Research is no newcomer to the field; the company also produces hardware such as portable CRD ultrasensitive gas analyzers for environmental and atmospheric measurements, industrial process monitoring and control, medical diagnostics, and trace-gas measurements.