Patent ID: 6982426

Claim:
A nitric oxide sensor, comprising: a 532-nm diode pumped intracavity frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser; a 395-nm external cavity diode laser including driver electronics; a dichroic mirror for overlapping the output of said external cavity diode laser and said Nd:YAG laser; a beta-barium-borate crystal including a focusing lens ahead of said crystal and a collimating lens after said crystal, said crystal being positioned to receive the output from said dichroic mirror and to generate a sum-frequency-mixed radiation beam at 227 nm; a 50—50 beam splitter for splitting said radiation beam from said beta-barium-borate crystal into a reference beam and a signal beam; a reference photomultiplier tube for generating a reference output from said reference beam; at least one mirror for passing said signal beam through a medium of interest; a signal photomultiplier tube for generating a signal output from said signal beam; said signal photomultiplier tube receiving said signal beam after passage through the medium of interest; and, a microprocessor for comparing said signal output and said reference output to determine the level of nitric oxide within the medium of interest.