Raman has come into its own over the last decade, making the leap from lab to industry and the field with handheld and field-portable analysis systems. As with many technologies, however, the reduction in size has often meant a compromise in performance as compared to traditional benchtop Raman systems. This has limited the applications in which portable Raman spectroscopy can be applied, and/or the detection limit that can be achieved. It is, however, possible to extend the reach of portable Raman to close this gap and enable new applications through careful product design that optimizes sensitivity, size, and wavelength. In this tech note, we'll look at design options to optimize each, and how they can stretch the limits of applied Raman spectroscopy by providing a step change in the performance traditionally available through compact spectrometers.
Design of a portable system for Raman that delivers performance approaching a benchtop system requires attention to three key parameters that can benefit both researchers and OEMs:
- Sensitivity – use of better optical designs to deliver significantly more throughput in the same compact footprint without adding significant cost.
- Miniaturization – robust, intelligent mechanical design that reduces footprint while delivering excellent thermal stability and unit-to-unit reproducibility.
- Wavelength – optimization of analysis wavelength(s) to get the best SNR for each sample.
>> Download the Application Note as a PDF
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