What’s that smell? If you can’t tell, maybe a new laser system from CU Bolder and NIST can help. The device is simple and sensitive enough to detect gasses at concentrations down to parts per trillion.
The laser at the system’s heart is a frequency comb laser, originally made for optical atomic clocks. The laser has multiple optical frequencies in its output. The gas molecules absorb light of different wavelengths differently, giving each type of molecule a unique fingerprint.
