Spatially resolved multispecies and temperature analysis in hydrogen flames Wolfgang Reckers, Lutz H11wel,Gerd GrOnefeld, and Peter Andresen We report on spatially resolved simultaneous measurements of temperature and majority species concentrations along a line segment in a premixed laminar H2-air flame. The results are obtained from Raman and Rayleigh scattering by using a narrow-band KrF excimer laser and a spectrally and spatially resolving detector system that consists of a high-throughput spectrometer and a gated, intensified, two-dimensional CCD camera. The data presented here are integrated over 100 laser shots. Absolute density profiles of N2, 02, H 20, and H 2, as well as temperature profiles at various heights through the flame, are presented. A discussion of the required calibration procedures and a summary of the necessary spectroscopicbackground are also included in this paper. Introduction During the past decade or so it has been shown by the combined efforts of many research groups that laserbased diagnostic methods can be applied to a large variety of combustion systems with exceptional success. This success, and the potential for even more penetrating and more powerful applications, has its origin in the basic nonintrusiveness, high sensitivity, and spatial and temporal resolution that can be achieved with laser methods. A large number of specialized approaches have been developed and characterized, and are being applied in many different situations. Scattering methods such as Rayleigh, spontaneous, and coherent Raman (such as coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy), as well as absorption and fluorescence techniques have been shown to give useful information. In particular, there has been much progress in obtaining several independent data simultaneously, e.g., one- or two-dimensional detection of specific combustion constituents or local multispecies density measurements. In the first case, variants of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques have proven to be particularly useful. For example, two-dimensional probing by LIF'- 3 (soW. Reckers and P. Andresen are with Max-Planck-Institut fir Str6mungsforschung, G6ttingen, Germany; P. Andresen is also with the Fakultat fir Physik, Universitat Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany. L. Htiwel is with the Department of Physics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut; G. Griinefeld is with the Laser Laboratorium G6ttingen, e.V., Gottingen, Germany. Received 1 July 1992. 0003-6935/93/060907-12$05.00/0. © 1993 Optical Society of America. called planar LIF) and its quench-free counterpart of LIF by predissociative states 4 5 have been developed, and merits and limitations of their applications have been described. Besides LIF,6 Raman scattering7 8 has also been used in the second case. Recently some progress has been reported in measuring the one-dimensional distribution of several combustion species simultaneously.9 Certain advantages and limitations are associated with pointwise, and one- and two-dimensional measurements in general. In pointwise techniques, several species can be detected simultaneously by means of efficient spectral filtering. However, spatial resolution and accuracy are usually limited by interfering radiation from neighboring areas. In contrast, two-dimensional methods can yield superior spatial information that is, however, in general, constrained to a single species. In this regard, one-dimensional imaging offers a favorable compromise, combining good spatial resolution, at least along a line, with the capability of excellent spectroscopic filtering and thereby the capability of simultaneously detecting several different species. Here we describe experiments in which Raman scattering from all majority species in a H2 -air combustion system was quantitatively measured along an arbitrary line. The analysis of these experiments yields spatially and spectroscopically well-resolved information about the number density variation of these species along the chosen line. Because of the complex nature of even a relatively simple case such as stationary H2 -air combustion 0 and because of the even more challenging demands of other potential applications an improved understanding of such systems will come only from measurement techniques 20 February 1993 / Vol. 32, No. 6 / APPLIED OPTICS 907 that provide simultaneous information on as many different aspects as possible. In particular, of utmost importance are both the instantaneous and the time-averaged spatial distribution of the various major (02, N2 , H2 , H2 0) and minor (mainly OH, NO, etc.) constituents in relation to geometric parameters and operation conditions of a given combustion device. The experimental method chosen here permits the extraction of one-dimensional density maps of all majority species and relies on recording wavelengthdispersed images of Rayleigh and Raman scattering off those molecules along the path of a focused tunable excimer laser. The current work was stimulated, in part, by recent papers on excimer-laserbased Raman scattering in combustion that clearly demonstrate the strength and some of the problems of this method.7 8 This paper is organized to give a somewhat comprehensive review of this new technique, starting with a survey of the theoretical background needed to use Rayleigh and Raman scattering as combustion diagnostic tools. Next, aspects of the experimental setup and experimental procedures are explained. The discussion is then continued with a section on the relevant spectroscopy, including a listing of pertinent cross sections. Then a short description is offered on how to extract the desired information from the raw data in terms of onedimensional density and temperature maps. In this context, the importance of proper calibration procedures is stressed, and ways of implementation are outlined. Finally, examples of analyzed sets of scattering images are presented with the aim of defining the performance parameters of our particular approach and the method in general. Rayleigh and Raman Scattering as Combustion Probes It is well known that spontaneous elastic and inelastic scattering of light can be used as a potentially powerful probe of combustion systems."1 One ofthe advantages of light scattering over, e.g., fluorescence detection is the reduction in complications that are due to quenching; since the scattering is instantaneous there is negligible collisional interaction. Therefore spatially resolved detection of such scattered light carries direct information about the spatial distribution of the pertinent molecules. There are, however, several aspects that make it difficult to use Rayleigh or Raman scattering as combustion diagnostic tools. Chief among them are the small cross sections for Rayleigh scattering and even more so for Raman scattering, a typical value for Raman cross sections being 10-30 cm2 /sr for N2 at 488 nm. The wellknown v4 scaling of both Rayleigh and Raman scattering suggests the usage of powerful UV lasers. It is indeed possible to take meaningful Raman spectra with a single laser pulse.7 Nevertheless, even under those optimized excitation conditions, data averaging over more than one laser pulse may be inevitable. Obviously this makes true instantaneous imaging of density traces impossible, which may appear to be a necessity in turbulent systems. However, it has 908 APPLIED OPTICS / Vol. 32, No. 6 / 20 February 1993 been demonstrated that averaged measurements, even in systems with highly turbulent behavior, can supply useful information.' 2 Another problem associated with both scattering processes is the possible interference at the fundamental wavelength (Rayleigh) or shifted wavelength (Raman) by mechanisms other than the ones of interest. In the case of Raman scattering, the displacement of the Raman lines is obviously characteristic for the specific molecule and, given a sufficiently high-resolution spectrometer, one can, in principle, discriminate against light emission or scattering from most other sources. However, two practical points stand in the way of a straightforward utilization of a Raman-based diagnostic. First, the intrinsic weakness of Raman scattering, even when W light is used, suggests the use of highthroughput spectrometers. For a given detection setup, the throughput can be increased by using wide entrance slits. Obviously, wide entrance slits imply poorer resolution with the concomitant possibility of interference by neighboring spectral features. Second, and this makes the aforementioned problem more severe, under conditions of W excitation of Raman signals with excimer lasers their less-thanperfect bandwidth ( 0.5 cm-' or 15 GHz) and residual broadband contribution make it a real challenge to avoid resonantly exciting some of the many constituent molecules in such a complex environment as combustion. Furthermore, in ArF-laser-based diagnostics of combustion systems involving hydrocarbons, broadband emission may be present at all excitation wavelengths.4 Fortunately such broadband interference problems are less significant in the context of 248-nm probing of H2 combustion. Great care in the experimental approach and subsequent data analysis is, nevertheless, required for extracting the desired information from measured data. In particular, since resonance fluorescence is usually several orders of magnitude stronger than Raman scattering, the intensity in a given Raman line may be significantly influenced by line emission features even if they are relatively far away. The practical usefulness and problems stemming from this interference have been partially addressed. In particular, it was found 7 that for the KrF laser at 248.623 nm a minimum in 02 and OH fluorescence excitation exists that, under certain conditions, permits the recording of interference-free Raman-scattering signals from 02, N2, H2, and H2 0. These scattering measurements were obtained from a small volume element that corresponds to a linear spatial resolution of 0.4 mm. We used a two-dimensional camera as a detection device, and we report here an extension of this approach to simultaneous measurement of these Raman signals along a line segment of 4 mm in the focal region of a tightly focused KrF laser. The next section describes the experimental arrangement. Experimental Setup and Procedures In principle, the experimental approach to obtain the desired spatially resolved information is similar to those used in related previous experiments from this group.3 -5" 3 Figure 1 depicts the schematic experimental setup as used in the experiments described here. A tunable, narrow-band KrF laser (Lambda Physik, EMG 150) is focused with a 2-m CaF 2 lens into a premixed H2 -air flame. The laser has a typical pulse energy of 200 mJ, a pulse duration of - 15 ns, and a locking efficiency of 95%, i.e., 95% of the output energy is delivered in a band of 0.2 cm-' with a selectable center wavelength, whereas the remaining 5% of the energy is distributed, according to the gain profile of this type of laser, between approximately 248 and 249 nm. The output of the laser is horizontally polarized to the degree to which it runs narrow band. Since detection of Raman and Rayleigh scattering is most efficient in a direction perpendicular to the laser E vector (and because, for ease of use, the detection axis is horizontal) we also rotate the laser polarization by 900 with an appropriate X/2 plate. At the focal point of the focused laser beam a laminar premixed H 2 -air flame is generated with a small burner mounted on an x-y-z-translation stage. This burner has a nozzle with an exit diameter of 2.5 mm. Gas flows are metered for H 2 and synthetic air (N2 :0 2 = 4:1) supplies and are typically adjusted for the data shown here at stoichiometric ratios of 1.7 standard liters per minute (SLPM) for H2 and 4.8 SLPM for air. Under typical operating conditions flows are stable to within the uncertainty of the meter reading (± 5%). A certain portion of the light, be it from scattering, spontaneous emission, or LIF, that emerges from the laser focal line volume is imaged with a pair of quartz lenses onto the entrance slit of a low f-number ( f/#) flat-field spectrometer (Oriel, Multispec). The lightgathering lens is chosen with an f/# of 1; the other lens is selected with an f/# of 4 to match closely the spectrometer f/# of 3.7. For this experiment, the spectrometer is mounted so that the entrance slit is oriented horizontally, i.e., parallel to the laser beam illuminated flame segment. After dispersion of the entrance slit image by a grating with 1200 lines/mm the resulting line spectrum is projected by the refocusing mirror of the spectrometer onto the exit plane, wavelength flame distance/de ^ ditac OMA 'sIll! imagingoptics f computer 2-mlens trigger Fig. 1. Experimental setup for recording one-dimensional Rayleigh and Raman profiles in a H2 -air flame. channel analyzer. OMA, optical multi- where it is intercepted by the photocathode of an 18 mm, proximity-focused image intensifier whose output, in turn, is fiber optically coupled to a twodimensional CCD detector array. In this particular set of experiments we employed a gated image intensifier that is capable of switching times of 100 ns, a demagnifying fiber link with an exit-to-entrance diameter ratio of 11:19, and an uncooled 286 x 385 CCD chip, all incorporated into a slow-scan camera (LaVi- sion, FlameStar). The camera and the laser are controlled by an IBM-compatible PC operating under specialized laser diagnostic software (La Vision). A key aspect of the experiment is to optimize the imaging of the laser-irradiated line through the flame onto the spectrometer entrance slit and eventually onto the CCD detector array. This point is of critical importance for a quantitative analysis of the various Raman lines, both in terms of relating their intensities to each other as well as deducing information about spatial density gradients. After several approaches we developed the following scheme that appears to give a maximum signal together with the sharpest images achievable with the overall optical arrangement used. The procedure can be conveniently broken down into several sequential steps: (1) The spectrometer grating is adjusted to display the appropriate wavelength range from 240 to 320 nm with the help of a Hg pen lamp oriented parallel to the spectrometer entrance slit. The lamp is operated to obtain high output at the 253.4-nm line. Also visible with this setting are the 265-, 289.4-, 296.8-, 302.2-, and 312.6-nm lines of Hg. (2) The same Hg lamp is used to illuminate from afar a straight piece of wire with a known diameter. The wire is positioned vertically along the flame axis, i.e., pointing to the center of the burner nozzle. (3) The two imaging lenses shown in the apparatus sketch of Fig. 1 are, at first, crudely adjusted to project an image of the wire onto the center of the (horizontally oriented) input slit. (4) Then careful and repeated adjustments are made to obtain a dispersed image of the Hg lamp, which exhibits simultaneously the sharpest possible shadows on all the Hg lines visible. For this purpose, accurate and reproducible lens positioning is essential. In particular, the movements along the optical axis to ensure that the object is at the focal point and vertical movement to ensure that the image is projected exactly onto the spectrometer slit must be made precisely. (5) Next the KrF laser focus is aimed, with the help of the turning mirror, as exactly as possible onto the wire without further adjustments of the lenses. At this point the height of the laser beam above the burner nozzle is also established and the wire is removed. If the flame is then ignited, it was found that all spatially varying features in the flame Raman spectra were as sharp as possible. Once the optical alignment, as described above, is completed one has, at the same time, a calibration of 20 February 1993 / Vol. 32, No. 6 / APPLIED OPTICS 909 the spatial resolution and magnification of the overall system. The latter is simply obtained from a comparison of the actual width of the shadow-casting wire to the full width at half-maximum of the corresponding images at the various Hg lines. With the two lenses chosen for this series of experiments (fi = 5 cm, f2 = 20 cm) the observed overall magnification, i.e., the ratio of final image size on the CCD chip to the object size, was m = 1.8, which also reflects the scale change introduced by the tapered fiber link between the image intensifier and the CCD array. This magnification corresponds to a total length of 4 mm being imaged along the short side of the CCD array, which comprises 286 pixels or, in other words, a nominal spatial resolution of 14 pumper pixel. However, the actual spatial resolution is limited by the modular transfer function of the image intensifier and the imaging quality of all other components (in particular, that of the imaging lens with an f/# of 1). Empirically a minimum spatial resolution of 150 iim along the laser beam was found by analyzing the intensity change along this direction associated with a shadow-casting object in the focal plane. Measurements of the laser focal spot size, with the help of the UV-objective-equipped CCD camera, reveal dimensions of 750 m in the vertical (parallel to the short side of the monochromator entrance slit) and 200 Am in the remaining direction (parallel to the optical axis of the imaging system). Because the imaging lenses used in this experiment have an actual magnification of 3.1 [=1.8/(11:19); see above] the actual observed volume is 150 m x 200 jim x 90 m, the latter value along the vertical dimension being the portion of the image passing through the 280-jm-wide entrance slit. Spectroscopic Details One of the many advantages of the above-mentioned setup is its versatility in obtaining various types of data that are relevant for diagnostic purposes and the ease with which a large quantity of such data can be obtained. To be sure, the ease refers to a situation in which the experimental setup has already been aligned, tested, and optimized. Examples of the kinds of diagnostic data obtainable are the laser beam profile in the vicinity of the focal zone, excitationemission spectra of the combustion system at hand, and one- and two-dimensional density maps of the system based on scattering and emission techniques. Because of the overriding importance of interference problems between fluorescence and Raman signals, this section is devoted to discussing the issue in detail for the case of a H2 -air flame and focused KrF laser excitation. For the purpose of establishing conditions that minimize interferences we recorded excitation-emission spectra like the one shown in Fig. 2. Shown in this figure is the dispersed emission and scattering intensity of an oxygen-rich H2 -air flame as a function of the exciting UV laser wavelength. Along the vertical axis, the wavelength of the scanning KrF laser is displaced as it goes from one end of 910 APPLIED OPTICS / Vol. 32, No. 6 / 20 February 1993 the tuning range (248 nm, top) to the other end (249 nm, bottom). At any given wavelength of the laser, the resulting emission and scattering spectrum of the flame is recorded and displayed along the horizontal axis. The span of the horizontal line,245 to 310 nm, includes the Rayleigh line (leftmost vertical trace) and 02 and N2 Raman lines, as well as several 02 and OH LIF features. Intensities are incorporated in Fig. 2 as false colors; the figure can thus be viewed as a contour map showing at each point the intensity of light reemitted by the flame at emission (horizontal axis) following excitation by the laser at Xlaser(vertical axis). The procedure that we used to obtain this excitation-emission spectrum is as follows: (1) With the experimental setup described in the previous section, we focus the KrF laser with a 2-m lens into a line that passes through the top section of an oxygen-rich H2 -air flame; (2) The spectrometer-gated CCD camera detection system is optimized and aligned to record emission from 245 to 310 nm with a slit width of 280 jim and a 1200-line/mm grating; (3) The data acquisition software is set to integrate each image along a certain interval along the spatial direction (the entrance slit direction) and to average over a predetermined number of laser pulses. This software control effectively uses the twodimensional CCD camera as a one-dimensional optical multichannel analyzer with high sensitivity; (4) As the CCD camera-software collect emission spectra (horizontal cuts through Fig. 2) the laser is tuned at a scan speed of 0.3 cm- 1 /s from 248 to 249 nm. At either end of the tuning range, the laser runs broadband with the resultant emission spectra being the sum of all individual features seen in the narrowband portion of the scan. Eventually, once the laser runs completely broadband, the emission spectra do not change anymore along the vertical direction toward the top and bottom ends of Fig. 2. The total accumulation time of the spectra shown in this figure was 15 min. Several features of this excitationemission spectrum are worth mentioning. The first, and obvious one, is that an enormous amount of spectroscopic observations can be accomplished with such an experimental setup in a short time. Once measured, such plots allow us to obtain, from vertical slices, excitation spectra of the system under study with a variable bandwidth of detection and an arbitrary center emission wavelength. Likewise horizontal profiles reveal the emission spectra of the system in response to any excitation wavelength (or combination of wavelengths). Second, Raman emission and resonantly induced fluorescence are easily discernible in the narrow-band portion of the spectrum as continuous vertical bands in the first instance and isolated, island-like features in the latter. Third, from spectroscopic pecularities one can rapidly identify which molecular species is resonantly excited. In this spe- cific instance 02 emission is characterized by seven lines to the red of the Rayleigh peak, whose spacings increase with increasing wavelength. This behavior is most clearly seen in the broadband portion of the excitation spectrum (top and bottom of Fig. 2). These lines correspond to emission from two different excitation bands of the 02 Schumann-Runge system, which is accessible with the KrF laser, namely, the 0 - 6 and the 2 - 7 excitation.14 Because of the rapid predissociation of the 02 B state there is no noticeable rotational redistribution even at atmospheric pressure, and the observed peaks represent the two unresolved P amd R lines followingexcitation of a particular J level. Similarly predissociation of the v' = 3 state of OH, which is accessible as a 3 -- 0 excitation within the KrF tuning range, assures equally simple emission features for this molecule.14 In this case, because of the large rotational level spacing and the II-E nature of the transition, three clearly separated P-, Q-, and R-branch lines are observed, which are also indicated in Fig. 2. The displayed excitation-emission spectrum also clearly reveals the existence of KrF laser wavelengths at ble 1 we have summarized the cross-section values for the relevant major constituents in the context of the H2 -air combustion and 248-nm excitation. It should be pointed out here that the usual V4 scaling of the scattering cross sections can fail to predict the accurate value of the cross section by a wide margin when resonance enhancement effects are important, as they are, for example, in the case of UV excitation of H2 and 02. fluorescence is observed. can be labeled as n(i)(x), where j = 1, 2, 3, and 4, which no resonant OH and 02 These regions are indicated by arrows in Fig 2 and occur at the following values: X = 248.623 nm (the wavelength chosen in Ref. 7), X2 = 248.404 nm, and others. By tuning the laser to these wavelengths, we can observe Raman scattering against a minimum of interfering fluorescence. In the experiments described in this paper, we have explored both gap wavelengths and found that they both give useful results. Finally, a point not evident from Fig. 2 should be stressed concerning nonlinear effects and possible interferences that are absent in a simple one-photon picture. Because of the need for high laser power densities to compensate for the small Raman efficiency, multiphoton effects can become important. In the context of a KrF laser probe of H2 -air combustion systems, two-photon resonant Density Maps The primary information contained in the measured scattering intensity is the one-dimensional spatial variation of molecualr densities pertaining to the majority species indicate the molecular species in the sequence listed above. What is actually measured is a scattering intensity of the appropriate Raman line, properly integrated over the associated wavelength range and corrected for any background, as it is intercepted by a certain number of pixels viewing a spatial interval from xi to xi + Axi. That intensity or, more accurately, the number of electrons in those pixels accumulated during a predetermined number of laser pulses is denoted here by Ni(i). The running subscript i counts from 1 to 285 and reflects spatial increments of approximately zAx = 14 [lm and a total range of 4 mm in the flame, as explained in the section on the experimental setup. The number Ni(i) is related to the average density n(i)(xi)of the particular molecule in the corresponding spatial range as follows: excitation of H 20 is important. 15 The excited C state of H2 0 can either fluoresce with a broad emission band near 400 nm or predissociate into OH(A21), which subsequently fluoresces, with the strongest features being those of the v = 0 bands near 308 nm. Although not visible in Fig. 2, these emission structures are definitely present in less oxygen-rich flames. As is discussed in detail in the section on calibration procedures, a quantitative analysis of Raman- and Rayleigh-scattering data in terms of species density traces may require that, for the various species involved, absolute or relative cross sections at the chosen excitation wavelength are known because only N2 and 02 can be calibrated directly from room air (see calibration procedures). There are several important resources in this regard that we have used and that can prove useful for future experiments. References 11 and 16-18 have experimental and theoretical information concerning those kind of data for various molecules, including H2 , 02, N2, and H2 0, as well as several carbon-containing species. In Ta- N2, H 2 O, and H2 . We first 02, elaborate on how this information can be extracted from the raw data. Once this information is available it can also be used to calculate temperature profiles along the same path. The discussion on how such temperature profiles can be obtained is given in the section on temperature profiles. If we define the spatial coordinate along the laser direction as x then the corresponding densities in the object under study Ni(i)= TtWiCu(j)Vin(J)(xi)NL, (1) Table1. RayleighandRamanCrossSectionsfor A= 248-nmExcitation Gas H2 02 Rayleigh Vibrational Cross Section (cm2 ) Raman Cross Section 2 (cm ) 3.67 x 10-27a 1 0 -26b N2 1.384 x 1.555 x 1 0 -26b H2 0 1.166 x 10 -26b aE. W. Rothe, Department 4.83 x 10-29c 1.54 x 10-29c 4.84 x 10-29c of Chemical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202 (private communication, 1991). bA. Koch, H. Voges, P. Andresen, H. Schiter, D. Wolff, W. Hentschel, W. Oppermann, and E. Rothe, "Planar imaging of a flame and of internal combustion in an automobile engine using UV Rayleigh and fluorescence light," (to be published). CW.K. Bischel and G. Black, "Wavelength dependence of Raman scattering cross section from 200-600 nm," AIP Conf. Proc. 100, 181-187 (1983). 20 February 1993 / Vol. 32, No. 6 / APPLIED OPTICS 911 where knowledge of the value of ax T = zogq. The various symbols in this equation each express one particular, more or less separable influence of the experimental detection scheme on the final observable Ni(J). Read from right to left, the right-hand side of this equation is ordered to mimick how photons, which are scattered off molecules of typej, are propagated through all relevant components, converted to electrons, and finally collected as a total charge eNi(i) in the relevant pixels with position index i. It is understood that all thermally generated electrons and electrons that are due to any other emission or scattering features collected in those same pixels have been properly subtracted. The significance of the symbols in Eq. (1) is as follows: NL is the total number of laser photons impinging upon the system under study during the exposure time of the CCD array (this may or may not comprise more than one laser pulse), Vi is the effective volume from which scattered photons are imaged onto pixels with spatial index i, n(J)(xi)is the average density of molecular speciesj in volume Vi, wiis the solid angle under which volume element Vi appears to collection optics, v&i) is the average differential Rayleigh or Raman cross section of speciesj averaged over solid angle xi, t is the overall optical transmission coefficient for the wavelength range (including the grating efficiency), 7 is the overall detection efficiency and gain of detector (in electrons per CCD pixel per incoming photon), q is the quantum efficiency of the photocathode of the image intensifier, g is the gain factor of the image intensifier (including both the microchannel plate and the phosphor screen); o is the fraction of light emerging from the phosphor screen that is guided by a fiber-optic taper to the COD array, z is the quantum efficiencyof the CCD array. For the case in which two experiments are performed in two different objects such that only the density of the molecular species differs, the results of two such measurements can be expressed in the simplified form Nki'j = fnkj)(Xi), k = 1, 2, where a represents the overall conversion and detection efficiency for this type of measurement. If one of these measurements (say k = 1) is done on an object with the known density distribution nl(i)(xi),it is obviously a trivial matter to extract the unknown density from the observables Nei(i)without requiring 912 APPLIED OPTICS / Vol. 32, No. 6 / 20 February 1993 n2 (i)(x) = n1 (i)(x. (2) This relationship suggests a powerful calibration procedure that is outlined in the following section. In essence, the desired density trace in the combustion system is obtained by a simple comparison with corresponding density traces in a reference system with known densities. The cancellation of the overall conversion and detection efficiency factor a eliminates a series of potentially serious sources of errors and uncertainties such as pixel-dependent gain or spatial variation of detection efficiency. Because of the mathematical simplicity of Eq. (2), which is used to convert the raw data with the help of appropriate calibration curves into absolute density traces and because of the relatively large number of data points involved in this process, the actual data analysis was performed with automated spreadsheets that import the necessary raw data from appropriately chosen traces of the corresponding images and, with a few key strokes (we used, with good success, Lotus 123 and Quattro Pro with their built-in macrocommand capabilities), output tables and graphs of the absolute density traces. Examples of such output are shown in Fig. 3. Further information relating to these density profiles can be found in the following section documenting the underlying raw data. CalibrationProcedures for 2, N 2 , H 2 0, and H2 As was shown above, the relevant information contained in our data sets, namely the spatial variation of the density of the majority species 02, N2, H20, and H2, can be extracted most reliably by comparing intensities of Raman traces of unknown densities with those of the same species at known densities obtained under the same experimental conditions. In this regard ambient air serves as an almost ideal calibration object, at least for 02 and N2, and, with some care, even water-density calibration can be obtained from the water content of ambient air. H2, on the other hand, obviously must be treated with a different approach. Minority components such as NO or, more difficult yet, OH deserve special consideration; since no attempt was made to measure these species quantitatively in the current set of experiments they are not considered further here. In the section on our preliminary experimental results, we adopted the calibration procedures outlined below with good success. Further details are given there. By measuring the barometric pressure po, the ambient temperature To, and the humidity level of the laboratory air we can easily establish the partial pressures and, hence, densities of 02, N2, and H20 at the time of measurement. Then Raman traces of those air molecules are measured with the completely aligned and optimized experiment, as described in the section on experimental procedures. Since the density of the calibration gases is constant along the laser 248.75 Uln Q211 Ei W | | 5 5 .; P I C~~~~~~~~~~~Q11 | | | l 248.25nm ~~~~~~~~~~ nm ~~~~~~~~~~~~248 310 (nm) 290 270 250 m ~~~~~~248.5 fi N2 Raman + 0 2Fluorescence 02 Raman + 02 Fourescence Rayleigh Fig. 2. Excitation-emission spectrum of oxygen-rich H 2 -air flame that was obtained by using a tunable KrF laser excimer laser. Density, Height z = 8mm Density, Height z = 2mm 20- O 1816- Ray N2 14 E1 E 12- PCI 10_ W a, a a) C1 4 20 1mm 1mm 0 0 1mm (b) (a) Fig. 3. (a) Measured density profiles of all majority species at a height of z = 2 mm above the burner nozzle. (b) Measured density profiles of all majority species at a height of z = 8 mm above the burner nozzle. 1mm 20 February 1993 / Vol. 32, No. 6 / APPLIED OPTICS 913 polarized components, experiences this anisotropy. The components see different refraction indices and, therefore, experience different dispersions in the sample. Their absorption in the molecules is also different. Consequently the linear polarization of the probe beam is slightly rotated, and it acquires a small amount of ellipticity. The signal detected in polarization spectroscopy arises from analyzing these changes in the polarization state of the probe beam. A simple model calculation of the polarization signal in the limit of weak saturation is made in Refs. 8 and 10. This calculation ignores the effects of repopulation of the ground state that are due to fluorescence and collisions. It also assumes that the length of the pump pulse is short compared with the ground-state relaxation time and that the upper state is short-lived enough not to contribute to the induced anisotropy. When the differences in the refraction indices and absorption coefficients experienced by the two circular components making up the linearly polarized probe beam are small, i.e., An = n - n- <<1 and Acx= ux+- a- << 1, the intensity of the probe beam transmitted through a nearly crossed analyzing polarizer is + 02 +b2 +-An It =o (~~~) + 24 bAaL + 2 (Aot)2 + + 2 A)21 (L)(An , (1) where Io is the incoming probe intensity, w is the laser frequency, L is the absorption path length, b (with b <<1) is an extra ellipticity that is due to a small background birefringence, caused, for example, by imperfect cell windows, and Io is a small background term that is added to account for the finite extinction ratio of the crossed polarizers. The angle 0 corresponds to the amount that the polarization axis of the analyzing polarizer deviates from the exact crossed position. For a homogeneously broadened medium the frequency dependence of the absorption difference Actis Lorentzian. With the help of the Kramers-Kronig relations one obtains a dispersion-shaped profile for the difference in the refractive indices, An. Inserting these line shapes into Eq. (1), we can write the formula for the signal intensity as It= lo+ +-bAt 2 02 + 1 0L b2 1 - 1 +x (~~1 2 \2 11 + I Ao0 LI I, 4 1 +x2 (2) where x = (o - o)/y, y is the half-width of the absorption profile, and AaOis the absorption difference at the line center w = wo. Equation (2) includes a constant background term ( + 02 + b2)1 , a dispersion-shaped term linear in Aao 0 and 0, and Lorentzian terms that are proportional to bAa0 and (Aao)2 A 920 Aao APPLIED OPTICS / Vol. 32, No. 6 / 20 February 1993 - a- = - Pt (JiJf)' (3) where J.J are polarization-dependent numerical factors, which are given in Ref. 8. The cross section JJiJf is a sum over M of the absorption cross sections 0LJ. M+ and thus does not depend on the polarization. ifm It is proportional to the square of the reduced matrix element and depends on the Franck-Condon and H6nl-London factors for the transition. Ip is the intensity and t the duration of the pump pulse, and NOis the total number density of the molecules on the lower state, which depends on the temperature. Under the same assumptions as above, the signal intensity can also be calculated for the case in which the pump beam is linearly polarized in a plane that is inclined by 450 against that of the probe beam. The only difference when compared with the result for the circularly polarized pump light is that the dispersive and the Lorentzian line-shape terms are interchanged. For a pump beam polarized in the z direction the absorption difference Au0' for the orthogonal polarization components of the probe beam will be8 ALt 0 ' = u - a o -(jifNt' f). (4) The polarization-dependent numerical factors C'j. Jf are given in Ref. 8. For the case of a circularly polarized pump beam the factors ZCJjf approach the value of 3/2 for large J values and AJ = + 1, while for AJ = 0 they decrease rapidly with increasing J. For a linearly polarized pump beam the factors A j approach the limit 3/ofor large J and J O and he limit 6/5for AJ = 0. Con- sequently, saturation by a circularly polarized pump wave produces a larger absorption difference for P and R lines than for Q lines. Linearly polarized light favors the Q branch lines instead. 3. x - OAct 0 L 1+x 1 proper selection of the uncrossing angle 0 and the window birefringence b makes either the Lorentzian or the dispersion term dominant. The difference in the absorption of the two circular polarization components of the probe beam depends on the effect of the saturating beam on the orientation of the molecules. For the case of a circularly polarized pump beam the absorption difference at line center for a Ji Jf transition is 8 Experimental Setup A schematic diagram of the experimental system is presented in Fig. 1. A tunable dye laser (Lambda Physik FL 2002) was pumped with an excimer laser (Lambda Physik EMG 103; pulse duration, 14 ns). To reach the 306-nm wavelength needed for the optical pumping of OH molecules the output of the sulforhodamine B dye laser was frequency doubled in a BBO crystal (Lambda Physik FL37). The linewidth of the frequency-doubled dye laser was 0.12 cm-. The output of the dye laser was divided into a integrator (NF Electronic Instruments BX531) for averaging. The boxcar was triggered from the excimer laser pulse by a fast photodiode. 4. Measurements A. Saturation Measurements Ploter_ JL Printer Fig. 1. Experimental setup used for the detection of OH by using PMT, photomultiplier tube; SHG, secpolarization spectroscopy. ond-harmonic generation. strong pump beam and a weaker probe beam. The pump beam was first linearly polarized with a GlanThompson prism and then circularly polarized with a Fresnel rhomb. Glan-Thompson prisms were also used as the linear polarizer and analyzer of the probe beam. The extinction ratio of the polarizer prisms was better than 10-5. A geometry with codirectional pump and probe beams was used. This does not permit the elimination of Doppler broadening. The loss of spectral resolution is not crucial, however, as the collisional broadening of the molecular linewidths at atmospheric pressures is of the same order of magnitude as the Doppler broadening and the laser linewidth used. The beams were crossed by 60 mrad in order to obtain improved spatial resolution. The pump and probe beams were focused into the flame with a 500-mm focal-length lens placed in front of the polarizers. This geometry gives a transverse spatial resolution of less than 100 Rm. The measurements were made in a premixed acety- In order to determine a suitable power for the pump beam for further experiments, saturation measurements were carried out in the R, bandhead of the A 2.-X 2 f(O, 0) transition. The lines measured were the R1(9) and the R1(8/10) transitions. The two peaks of the second transition could not be resolved as their frequency difference was only 0.055 cm-', which is clearly below the resolution limit for the setup. The peak intensities of the spectral lines under study are plotted in Fig. 2 as a function of the pump beam intensity. According to Eq. (2)a square dependence of the signal intensity on the pump beam intensity is expected. In the log-log scale, the measured values should form a straight line with a slope of 2, which is also sketched in the figure. At low intensities the signal does show an almost constant increase with the pump beam intensity. At higher pump intensities, however, a clear saturation behavior of the signal can be recognized. Even with the lower intensities the signal does not exhibit a square dependence. This may be due partly to geometric effects such as the inhomogeneous spatial distribution of intensity in the beam and the incomplete overlap of the pump and the probe beams. The increase of the spectral linewidth with increasing laser intensity was also studied by observing the R1(9) line. Apart from power broadening, the measured linewidth (FWHM) was composed of a laser linewidth of 0.12 cm-', an estimated collisional width of 0.07 cm-' (see Ref. 11), and a Doppler width of -0.25 cm-'. The width of the R,(9) line was found to be 0.5 cm-' at a 9-gJ pump pulse energy, and it slowly decreased to 0.28 cm-' when the pulse energy was down to 0.3 [LJ. Decreasing the laser intensity further did not lead to any noticeable decrease in the width of the line. In the experiments below the lene-oxygen flame with a nozzle diameter of 1.0 mm and a Bunsen-type propane-air flame with an orifice diameter of 10 mm. The flames were attached to a translation stage, which permitted movement in the horizontal and the vertical directions by a stepping motor control. From the flame, the probe beam traveled through the analyzer, a collimating lens, and several spatial filters before it reached a photomultiplier tube (EMI QB9558). To minimize the amount of background light from the flame at the detector, a double monochromator (Jobin-Yvon Ramanor U 1000) was used for filtering the probe light. A microcomputer (HP 9000/216) was used to control the measurement and to file the data. The computer gave triggering pulses for the excimer laser and controlled the wavelength scanning of the monochromator and the dye laser. The photomultiplier signal was amplified with a preamplifier (NF Electronic Instruments BX-31) and sent to a boxcar I2 100 A 0 Ak o A 0 :3 . _ 0 i0) v) 10-2 0 0 A R2 (8/10) transitions 0 I1. o- . 104 R1 (9) transition - . 105 106 Pump Intensity (W/cm 2 ) Fig. 2. Signal intensity as a function of the pump beam intensity. 20 February 1993 / Vol. 32, No. 6 / APPLIED OPTICS 921 pump pulse energy was chosen to be 1.5 p. ( 106 W/cm2 ). The pulse energy of the probe beam was always kept at 50 nJ. B. Spectral Measurements of OH Acetylene-OxygenFlame With the experimental apparatus described above, various measurements of the R branches in the A 2Y,-X 2 fl(0, 0) band were made. The upper curve in Fig. 3 shows a part of this band in an acetyleneoxygen flame. The bandheads of the R, and R2 branches are shown. This curve was recorded by averaging 32 pulses per data point with a frequency step of 0.1 cm-'. The frequency resolution of the scan can be seen by observing the R1(7) and R1(11) lines, which lie 0.432 cm-' apart and are clearly resolved. On the other hand, the R1(14) and R2 (11) transitions, with a frequency difference of only 0.33 cm-l, are not resolved. In the measured spectrum the signal-to-noise ratio at the bandhead was better than 1000:1. The OH concentration in the flame was estimated to - 1015-1016 molecules/cm3 . From the observed signal-to-noise ratio and the estimated OH concentration, a detection limit of better than 1014 OH molecules/cm3 can be inferred. To demonstrate the dependence of the polarization signal on the uncrossing angle 0 of the analyzer, the measurement was repeated with the polarizer and analyzer slightly uncrossed. The results are shown in Fig. 3 (middle and lower curves). According to the calculation for the case of a circularly polarized pump beam the signal contains a dispersion-shaped term, which is linear in 0. By opening the analyzer, this term quickly becomes dominant. It changes sign with the sign of 0, as can be seen by comparing the two lower curves in Fig. 3. They are recordings with opposite opening angles of the analyzer. Because the analyzer is slightly opened, part of the probe beam energy leaks to the detector, which enhances the background signal considerably. The slope of the background signal in the two lower spectra of Fig. 3 is due to the wavelength dependence of the gain of the dye. All subsequent measurements were made with the angle 0 as close to 0 as possible to minimize the background noise. Figure 4 demonstrates the effects of the pump beam polarization on the signal. The upper spectrum was recorded with a circularly polarized pump beam. The P, and P2 lines come out strong and the Q lines are weak, just as the theory predicts. The lower spectrum in Fig. 4 shows the same 3-nm wavelength range, but this time with a linearly polarized pump beam. The polarization planes of the pump and probe beams make an angle of 450 with each other. Now the Q, and Q2 lines are clearly P, 1 2 3 4 P2 1 5 6 1 2 3 4 2 3 4 5 Cb '7n S .55 C (D C: Q0 1 2 3 4 5 02 6 7 241 8 9 BI5 7 10 8 3 11 9 10 12 11 12 121~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 306.3 Fig. 3. 306.5 306.7 306.9 Wavelength (nm) R1 and R 2 bandheads of the A 2 X-X 307.1 2 307.3 l(0, 0) transition in an acetylene-oxygen flame. The upper curve was measured with the probe beam polarizers crossed. The lower curves show the dispersive line shapes, when the uncrossing angle of the analyzer was approximately 0 = 0.4° for the middle curve and 0 = -0.3° for the lower curve. 922 APPLIED OPTICS / Vol. 32, No. 6 / 20 February 1993 308.0 308.5 309.0 309.5 310.0 310.5 Wavelength (nm) Fig. 4. Comparison of polarization signals in OH obtained by using a circularly polarized pump beam (upper spectrum) and a linearly polarized pump beam (lower spectrum). distinguished, but the P1 and P2 lines are barely seen, again according to the theory. Propane-AirFlame The measurements on the R branches were repeated in a propane-air flame. Figure 5 shows the spectrum measured with a circularly polarized pump beam and a linearly polarized probe beam. The spectral resolution achieved in these measurements was roughly the same as in those given above, with the R1 (7) and R1 (11) lines resolved and the R1 (14) and R2 (11) lines unresolved. The signal-to-noise ratio was 400:1, which is somewhat lower than in the acetylene-oxygen flame because of the lower OH concentration in the Bunsen flame. The differences in the flame temperatures shows up as differences in the intensity distributions among the rotational lines of the spectra of Figs. 3 and 5. C. Measurements C a) C -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Distanceacross burner (mm) Fig. 6. Spatial distribution of the OH signal in an acetyleneoxygen flame. of the Concentration Distribution Acetylene Flame In order to obtain a map of the spatial distribution of the OH radical in the acetylene-oxygen flame the laser was tuned to the strong R1 (8/10) transitions at 306.372 nm. With the step-motor-controlled translation stage the flame could be moved relative to the fixed laser beams in both the horizontal and the vertical directions. Horizontal cuts of 3.2 mm in length were run across the flame at various heights. The step size in the horizontal scan was 50 m. In the vertical direction the flame was moved in steps of 0.5 mm from the base to the top of the reaction zone. Above that height the step size was increased to 1 mm. Each measurement point corresponds to a sum of 32 laser shots. The horizontal cuts at the different heights in the flame are collected in Fig. 6 to give a picture of the distribution of OH in the acetyleneoxygen flame. It should be noted that the measured intensity depends not only on the concentration of the OH molecule, but also on the temperature of the flame in the measurement point. Therefore, Fig. 6 does not really show the concentration distribution of the OH molecules,but only the intensity distribution of the R1 (8/10) lines in the flame. The intensity of the OH polarization spectrum is strongest in the reaction zone or flame front, which forms a thin cone that shows strong emission from many radicals. After reaching a maximum at the top of the conical reaction zone, the OH signal drops slowly in the upper part of the flame. Bunsen Burner The same measurement was also repeated for the Bunsen burner, which was enclosed in a steel pipe to prevent flickering. The fuel was propane and the air holes were fully opened. In each horizontal scan the burner was moved in 128 steps over a distance of 19.2 mm, which gives a spatial resolution of 150 prm, approximately the size of the probe beam diameter in the flame. In Fig. 7 one can again see a distinct reaction zone in which the signal intensity from OH is cn 0) 1a C C 0k4 306.3 306.5 306.7 306.9 307.1 307.3 Wavelength (nm) Fig. 5. Polarization spectrum around the R1 and B2 bandheads in a propane-air flame, which was measured using a circularly polarized pump beam. -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 Distanceacrossburner(mm) Fig. 7. Spatial distribution of the OH signal in a propane-air flame. 20 February 1993 / Vol. 32, No. 6 / APPLIED OPTICS 923 highest. In contrast to the acetylene-oxygen flame, however, here the signal intensity reaches a maximum before the top of the reaction zone and goes down quickly in the outer reaction zone. 5. Conclusions In this paper, the potentials of the use of polarization spectroscopy for combustion diagnostics have been investigated. In particular, this well-established technique of nonlinear laser spectroscopy was applied to the detection of OH molecules in an acetyleneoxygen and a propane-air flame. The study of OH was largely motivated by the important role this radical plays as a transient reaction product in all hydrocarbon flames. Polarization spectroscopy is based on the interaction of two polarized laser fields in a sample. The fields are tuned into resonance with electronic transitions in the molecules under study. Because of the resonant nature of the interaction, high detection sensitivities can be achieved. The overall sensitivity of the method is improved further by the fact that the signal propagates as a coherent laser beam, which can easily be collected onto a detector. From the observed signal-to-noise ratio and the estimated concentration of OH in the flames, a detection limit of better than 1014 OH molecules/cm 3 could be inferred. By using higher-quality optics and longer averaging times or higher pulse repetition rates, we can expect further improvement of the detection sensitivity. The measurement point in polarization spectroscopy is defined by the overlap volume of the two interacting laser beams. Probe volumes of less than 1 mm3 can be achieved easily with crossed probe and pump beams. In this paper, the spatial resolution capability of the method was demonstrated by measuring the spatial distribution of the OH signal in the two flames. In the optical pumping process the behavior of the electronic transitions of the molecule depends critically on the polarization of the pump beam. The possibility of distinguishing between R, Q, and P lines in the spectra by varying the pump beam polarization was demonstrated by measurements that were made with linearly and circularly polarized beams. This feature has a particular advantage in the assignment of complex molecular spectra. The polarization signal reflects the distribution of the molecular population on the lower electronic level of the transition and, therefore, also permits the temperature of the measurement point to be extracted from the spectra. This aspect of the method will be elaborated further. An important problem in the use of polarization spectroscopy in flame studies of a more quantitative nature is collisional relaxation. Measurements of absolute concentrations of radicals would require a knowledge of the collisional depolarization of the magnetic sublevels. Also, when strong saturation of 924 APPLIED OPTICS / Vol. 32, No. 6 / 20 February 1993 the optical transition is present, the relaxation rates of two electronic levels as well as of the optical coherence need to be known. Furthermore, an accurate prediction of the spectra would require a more elaborate theory that would include saturation effects. The use of polarization spectroscopy in combustion diagnostics offers the possibility of achieving a high spatial resolution paired with a high detection sensitivity. The measurement signal is, however, sensitive to changes in the polarization of the probe beam caused, for example, by imperfections in the optical components or by particles in the flame. Polarization spectroscopy makes use of only two laser beams of the same frequency and needs no phase matching of the beams, in contrast to some other nonlinear spectroscopic methods. Also, the use of a broadband laser and optical multichannel detection would permit single-shot measurements to be made in turbulent environments. Polarization spectroscopy may thus provide a useful and simple alternative to other laser techniques in combustion analysis. Financial support from the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. References 1. D. R. Crosley and G. P. Smith, "Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy for combustion diagnostics," Opt. Eng. 22, 545553 (1983). 2. A. C. Eckbreth, Laser Diagnostics for Combustion Temperature and Species (Abacus, Tunbridge Wells,England, 1988). 3. B. Attal, D. Debarre, K. Mdller-Dethlefs, and J. P. E. Taran, "Resonance enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering in C2 ," Rev. Phys. Appl. 18,39-50 (1983). 4. C. G. Aminoff, M. Kaivola, and T. Virtanen, "Investigations of electronically resonant CARS," in Laser SpectroscopyVIII, W. Persson and S. Svanberg, eds. (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987), p. 330. 5. K. Kohse-H6inghaus, U. Meier, and B. Attal-Tr6tout, "Laser- induced fluorescence study of OH in flat flames of 1-10 bars compared with resonance CARS experiments," Appl. Opt. 29, 1560-1569 (1990). 6. P. Ewart and S. V. O'Leary, "Detection of OH in a flame by degenerate four-wave mixing," Opt. Lett. 11, 279-281 (1986). 7. C. G. Aminoff, M. Kaivola, and K. Nyholm, "Degenerate four-wave mixing applied to radical detection in a flame," in Proceedingsof the Eleventh International Conferenceof Atomic Physics, C. Fabre and D. Delande, eds. (Ecole Normale Sup6rieure, Paris, 1988), p. VII-7. 8. R. E. Teets, F. V. Kowalski, W. T. Hill, N. Carlson, and T. W. Hansch, "Laser polarization spectroscopy," in Advances in Laser Spectroscopy I, A. H. Zewail, ed., Proc. Soc. Photo-Opt. Instrum. Eng. 113, 80-87 (1977). 9. G. Zizak, J. Lanauze, and J. D. Winefordner, "Cross-beam polarization in flames with a pulsed dye laser," Appl. Opt. 25, 3242-3246 (1986). 10. W. Demtrdder, Laser Spectroscopy (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1982), Chap. 10, p. 505. 11. T. Dreier and D. J. Rakestraw, "Measurement of OH rotational temperatures in a flame using degenerate four-wave mixing," Opt. Lett. 15, 72-74 (1990).
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