Educational spectrograph brings Raman to the classroom

Educational spectrograph brings Raman to the classroom

An affordable, robust Raman spectrograph designed for teaching laboratories was unveiled by Kaiser Optical Systems (Ann Arbor, MI) at Pittcon `96 (Mar. 3-8; Chicago, IL). Part of the HoloLab Series of Raman instruments, the Series 1000 is a turnkey system built on the same platform as the high-end Kaiser systems. The system offers spectral coverage of 400 to 3650 cm-1 with a spectral resolution of 10 cm-1. A fiber probe with a single central output fiber surrounded by an array of return fibers isolates the sample from the helium-neon laser source and thermo electrically cooled, 1024 ¥ 64 charge-coupled-device detector, minimizing the possibility of contamination. Modular design permits system upgrades to achieve higher performance.

Priced at less than $30,000, the system comes with analysis software and an educational package of experiments and tutorials developed by Michael Morris of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI); instruments will begin shipping in September.