Miniature near-infrared spectrometer for point-of-use chemical analysis
2014
Point-of-use chemical analysis holds tremendous promise for a number of industries, including agriculture, recycling,
pharmaceuticals and homeland security. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is an excellent candidate for these
applications, with minimal sample preparation for real-time decision-making. We will detail the development of a golf
ball-sized NIR spectrometer developed specifically for this purpose. The instrument is based upon a thin-film dispersive
element that is very stable over time and temperature, with less than 2 nm change expected over the operating
temperature range and lifetime of the instrument. This filter is coupled with an uncooled InGaAs detector array in a
small, rugged, environmentally stable optical bench ideally suited to unpredictable environments. The resulting
instrument weighs less than 60 grams, includes onboard illumination and collection optics for diffuse reflectance
applications in the 900-1700 nm wavelength range, and is USB-powered. It can be driven in the field by a laptop, tablet
or even a smartphone. The software design includes the potential for both on-board and cloud-based storage, analysis
and decision-making. The key attributes of the instrument and the underlying design tradeoffs will be discussed,
focusing on miniaturization, ruggedization, power consumption and cost. The optical performance of the instrument, as
well as its fit-for purpose will be detailed. Finally, we will show that our manufacturing process has enabled us to build
instruments with excellent unit-to-unit reproducibility. We will show that this is a key enabler for instrumentindependent
chemical analysis models, a requirement for mass point-of-use deployment.
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