Spectroscopy Instrument
Added: (Wed Aug 04 2021)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
In the broadest sense a spectrometer is any instrument that is used to measure the variation of a physical characteristic over a given range; i.e. a spectrum. This could be a mass-to-charge ratio spectrum in the case of a mass spectrometer, the variation of nuclear resonant frequencies in an NMR spectrometer or the change in the absorption and emission of light with wavelength in an optical spectrometer.
The goal of any optical spectrometer is to measure the interaction (absorption, reflection, scattering) of electromagnetic radiation with a sample or the emission (fluorescence, phosphorescence, electroluminescence) of electromagnetic radiation from a sample. Optical spectrometers are concerned with electromagnetic radiation that falls within the optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum which is light spanning the ultraviolet, visible and infrared wavelength regions of the spectrum.
In order to gain maximum information, the interaction or emission of light should be measured as a function of wavelength and the common feature of all optical spectrometers is therefore a mechanism for wavelength selection. In low cost spectrometers or in situations where accurate wavelength selection is not important, optical filters are used to isolate the wavelength region of interest.
However, for accurate wavelength selection and the generation of spectra, a dispersive element that separates light into its constituent wavelengths is required. In all modern spectrometers, this dispersive element is a diffraction grating where constructive and destructive interference is used to spatially separate polychromatic light that is incident on the grating