Detection of methyl mercaptan (CH₃SH) is essential for environmental atmosphere assessment and exhaled-breath analysis. This paper presents a sensitive CH₃SH sensor based on wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) with a mid-infrared distributed feedback interband cascade laser (DFB-ICL). Multicomponent spectral fitting was used not only to enhance the sensitivity of the sensor but also to determine the concentration of interferents (atmospheric water and methane). The results showed that the uncertainties in the measurement of CH₃SH, H₂O, and CH₄ were less than 1.2%, 1.7% and 2.0%, respectively, with an integration time of 10 s. The CH₃SH detection limit was as low as 7.1 ppb with an integration time of 295 s. Overall, the reported sensor, boasting the merits of high sensitivity, can be used for atmospheric methyl mercaptan detection, as well as multiple components detection of methyl mercaptan, water, and methane, simultaneously.
Keywords: distributed feedback interband cascade laser (DFB-ICL); methyl mercaptan sensor; mid-infrared spectroscopy; multicomponent spectral fitting; wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS).