A high-quality Raman microscope can be recognized by these 5 criteria

90 years ago Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and Kariamanickam Srinivasa Krishnan first documented "A New Type of Secondary Radiation," which then became known as the Raman Effect [1, 2]. Raman spectroscopy is based on this effect and is used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the chemical components and molecules of a sample. It is a nondestructive method that requires little, if any, sample preparation.

Nevertheless, Raman spectroscopy long remained a technique that was only performed in special laboratories. In recent years, however, it has been increasingly losing its outsider status. The reason for this is the development of the confocal Raman microscope, with which not only individual Raman spectra, but also complete images generated from thousands of spectra can be acquired. Through continuous development, commercially-available Raman microscopes are also becoming more user-friendly. For example, modern software interfaces guide the user through the Raman measurement and the subsequent data analysis.

There are several key factors that can be used as criteria for determining the quality of confocal Raman microscopes.