Patent ID: 7768647

Claim:
A multi-color absorption spectroscopy apparatus for detecting certain molecules in the gas phase, comprising: a set of at least two cavity ringdown analysis systems, each comprising: a laser emitting radiation at a wavelength; means for transporting said radiation from said laser; a mode matching telescope, receiving said radiation from said means for transporting and emitting said radiation; and a cavity ringdown cell having at least a pair of opposing mirrors optimized for the bandwidth of maximum reflectivity corresponding to the tuning range of the respective radiation, receiving said radiation from said telescope and emitting said radiation, said cavity ringdown cell having a cavity into which it can receive a gas for analysis; wherein said wavelengths of said radiation emitted from said lasers are each different by at least five percent (5%) of the center of the optimized wavelength range; a photometric detector to receive and analyze said radiation emitted from each of said cavity ringdown cells in each of said cavity ringdown analysis systems; and means for receiving a gas into said cavity ringdown cells in said cavity ringdown analysis systems for analysis.