Spectrometers > Applications > High Performance Spectrometers
Small changes in spectra and spectra of low light level systems are very difficult to detect with standard spectrometers. They either do not provide sufficient spectral resolution to measure slight feature changes in spectra, or cannot detect weak signals due to high inherent noise of the system. A typical non-scanning spectrometer has both of these limitations when compared to a P&P Optica high performance spectrometer. This can be illustrated by the figure below which shows a spectrum of a spectral lamp obtained with a standard fiber-optic system and a P&P Optica spectrometer using 24 micron high detector. Both systems had 100 micron slit installed, and a 200 micron fiber was used to deliver light from the spectral lamp to the spectrometer entrance slit. The same source power and exposure times were used for both systems. As can be seen, many features clearly visible with the P&P Optica high performance spectrometer are not visible with a standard system. Also, high dynamic range allows for better differentiation between spectral features.
High performance spectrometers can be used in the detection of small amounts of substances in solutions, or the detection of small changes in concentration of substances. Particularly, concentrations of analytes in blood, plasma or urea can all be performed with these systems, without the need for reagents. The figure below shows the change of spectral features due to the changing concentration of saline and an unknown, compared to just saline (indicated as water) in blood.
Another example of high performance spectroscopy is the spectrum collected when imaging an evening sky. In this instance, light scattered off of clouds can be easily measured for light pollution caused by street lamps, household lights and others.
