Optimizing equipment for optical spectroscopy

In this third session of a four-part ‘Fundamentals of Spectroscopy’ course, having previously covered the ‘why’, we’ll now focus on the ‘how’. There is currently a dizzying array of tools available for spectroscopy, but the fundamental goal remains the same.

Here we will discuss the current state-of-the-art common spectroscopy components – spectrometers, detectors, and associated optics – as well as their historical development. We will discuss some of the technological breakthroughs that have made the heroic measurements of yesterday commonplace practice today, as well as how different equipment has evolved to suit the particular needs of different experiments.

Key learning objectives

• Discover the function of a spectrograph and how the earliest spectrographs achieved this
• Understand the difference between a prism and grating spectrograph and learn why grating spectrographs are significantly more common
• Consider what is meant by “dispersion” in a spectrometer, what is spectral resolution, and how the two concepts relate to each other

Who should attend?

• Academic researchers
• R&D scientists
• Lab technicians
• Principal investigators
• Laboratory, facilities or corporate managers
• Postdoctoral research assistants
• Undergraduate and PhD students
• Engineers or software engineers
• Teaching fellows

Presenter: Adam Wise (Andor Technology)

Adam Wise is an applications scientist at Andor Technology, specializing in spectroscopy and scientific cameras. He earned his PhD working with John Grey at the University of New Mexico, studying Raman spectroscopy of organic semiconductors. After his postdoctoral research at UMass Amherst, Wise entered the field of optical instrumentation, and continues to support research by helping scientists get the right cutting-edge tools.

Presenter: Georgina Wynne Hughes (Editorial Team)

Georgina studied at Birmingham University where she gained a BSc in Biomedical Science, and an MSc by Research in Cancer and Genomic Sciences, which focused on defective autophagy in rare neurodegenerative diseases. As a member of the Editorial team, she now plays an integral role in shaping the content on SelectScience.