Patent ID: 7057398

Claim:
A microwave spectrometer which measures the concentration of an ethylene oxide gas and the concentration of water vapor in one or more gas samples taken from a sterilization chamber, said microwave spectrometer, in combination, comprising: a first microwave generator which generates microwaves at the absorption frequency of an ethylene oxide gas molecule; a second microwave generator, which generates microwaves at the absorption frequency of a water vapor molecule; a tuning cavity, which modulates microwave frequencies generated by said first and second microwave generators to exact absorption frequencies of an ethylene oxide gas molecule and a water vapor molecule; a first detector that measures microwaves at the absorption frequency of an ethylene oxide gas molecule; a second detector that measures microwaves at the absorption frequency of a water vapor molecule; and wherein the microwave spectrometer measures the concentration of an ethylene oxide gas and the concentration of water vapor in one or more gas samples by alternatively generating and detecting microwaves having absorption frequencies of an ethylene oxide gas and water vapor.