{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T17:33:43Z","timestamp":1768584823471,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,17]],"date-time":"2023-04-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1681689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["62275065"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["62275065"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["62022032"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["62022032"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["61875047"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["61875047"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["61505041"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["61505041"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities","award":["62275065"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["62275065"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities","award":["62022032"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["62022032"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities","award":["61875047"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["61875047"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities","award":["61505041"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["61505041"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this invited paper, a highly sensitive methane (CH4) trace gas sensor based on quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) technique using a high-power diode laser and a miniaturized 3D-printed acoustic detection unit (ADU) is demonstrated for the first time. A high-power diode laser emitting at 6057.10 cm\u22121 (1650.96 nm), with the optical power up to 38 mW, was selected as the excitation source to provide a strong excitation. A 3D-printed ADU, including the optical and photoacoustic detection elements, had a dimension of 42 mm, 27 mm, and 8 mm in length, width, and height, respectively. The total weight of this 3D-printed ADU, including all elements, was 6 g. A quartz tuning fork (QTF) with a resonant frequency and Q factor of 32.749 kHz and 10,598, respectively, was used as an acoustic transducer. The performance of the high-power diode laser-based CH4\u2013QEPAS sensor, with 3D-printed ADU, was investigated in detail. The optimum laser wavelength modulation depth was found to be 0.302 cm\u22121. The concentration response of this CH4\u2013QEPAS sensor was researched when the CH4 gas sample, with different concentration samples, was adopted. The obtained results showed that this CH4\u2013QEPAS sensor had an outstanding linear concentration response. The minimum detection limit (MDL) was found to be 14.93 ppm. The normalized noise equivalent absorption (NNEA) coefficient was obtained as 2.20 \u00d7 10\u22127 cm\u22121W\/Hz\u22121\/2. A highly sensitive CH4\u2013QEPAS sensor, with a small volume and light weight of ADU, is advantageous for the real applications. It can be portable and carried on some platforms, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a balloon.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s23084034","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,17]],"date-time":"2023-04-17T02:26:02Z","timestamp":1681698362000},"page":"4034","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["A Miniaturized 3D-Printed Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Sensor for Methane Detection with a High-Power Diode Laser"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Yanjun","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Tunable Laser, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tiantian","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Tunable Laser, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shunda","family":"Qiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Tunable Laser, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9788-7984","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yufei","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Tunable Laser, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"194","DOI":"10.1016\/j.infrared.2017.09.018","article-title":"A ppb level sensitive sensor for atmospheric methane detection","volume":"86","author":"Xia","year":"2017","journal-title":"Infrared Phys. 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