Patent ID: 8587787

Claim:
A spectroscopy system, comprising: a gas cell for enclosing a gas to be analyzed; a light source for generating an optical signal to illuminate said gas in the gas cell; a battery for providing power to the light source; an interferometer system including two arms defined by a fixed mirror and a movable mirror, a beam splitter and a detector for receiving an optical signal from said mirrors after passing through the gas in the gas cell and detecting interference of the optical signal from the two arms; a controller to control the light source and a mirror actuator for moving the movable mirror, and to determine a spectral response of the gas in the gas cell; a microelectromechanical systems optical bench for supporting the interferometer system, wherein the fixed mirror and the beam splitter are fabricated by a silicon surface micromachining on the bench and are each held vertical to the bench with latches that extend between the fixed mirror and the beam splitter and the bench; and a housing of the spectroscopy system being shaped and smaller in volume than 100 cubic millimeters, said housing containing the optical bench, the gas cell, the light source, the battery, the interferometer system and the controller, wherein the housing further comprises elongated slit openings for allowing gas from an environment to enter the gas cell within the housing.