Effects of adsorption-desorption processes on the response time and accuracy of photoacoustic detection of ammonia.

A distributed-feedback (DFB) diode laser radiating at 1.53 mum was used for photoacoustic detection of ammonia molecules in the gas phase under flow conditions. The influence of the adsorption-desorption processes that occur at the cell and tube walls on the measured gas concentration was studied. Dramatic differences in the adsorption behavior of a metal and a polypropylene cell are demonstrated. Simulations of the gas flow and adsorption-desorption processes yield the conditions that must be fulfilled for accurate concentration measurements in trace-gas analysis of polar molecules.