A spectrophone measures absorptivity by sensing thermal expansion in a confined sample gas. Laser source excitation provides sufficient radiation to measure precisely very weak absorptivities at laser wavelengths. This paper describes the theoretical capability, design considerations, and experimental testing of a pulsed ruby laser absorptivity spectrophone and a cw CO₂ laser absorptivity spectrophone. A spectrum of the water vapor line at 6943.8 Å was obtained. The peak absorptivity was 3 × 10^-6cm^-1. In the vicinity of 9.6 µ, absorptivities of CO₂-N₂ mixtures were measured down to 1.2 × 10^-7cm^-1.

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