Sensitive detection of HO2 radicals produced in an atmospheric pressure plasma using Faraday rotation cavity ring-down spectroscopy

Cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) is a well-established, highly sensitive absorption technique whose sensitivity and selectivity for trace radical sensing can be further enhanced by measuring the polarization rotation of the intracavity light by the paramagnetic samples in the presence of a magnetic field. In this paper, we highlight the use of this Faraday rotation cavity ring-down spectroscopy (FR-CRDS) for the detection of HO2 radicals. In particular, we use a cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet as a highly efficient source of HO2 radicals and show that FR-CRDS in the near-infrared spectral region (1506 nm) has the potential to be a useful tool for studying radical chemistry. By simultaneously measuring ring-down times of orthogonal linearly polarized light, measurements of Faraday effect-induced rotation angles (θ) and absorption coefficients (α) are retrieved from the same data set. The Faraday rotation measurement exhibits better long-term stability and enhanced sensitivity due to its differential nature, whereby highly correlated noise between the two channels and slow drifts cancel out. The bandwidth-normalized sensitivities are αmin=2.2×10−11 cm−1 Hz−1/2