Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer

Fourier transform infrared spectrometers first appeared in the 1970s. These single beam instruments, which differ from scanning spectrometers, have an interferometer of the Michelson type placed between the source and the sample, replacing the monochromator (Figs 10.9c and 10.11). 

Advantages of Fourier transform infrared spectrometers are so great that it is nearly impossible to purchase a dispersive infrared spectrometer. Fourier transform visible and ultraviolet spectrometers are not commercially available, because of the requirement to sample the interferometer at intervals of S = l/(2Av). For visible spectroscopy, Av could be 25 000 cm 1 (corresponding to 400 nm), giving S = 0.2 im and a mirror movement of 0.1 xm between data points. Such fine control over significant ranges of mirror motion is not feasible. 

A mid-infrared absorption instrument generally consists of a Fourier transform design with the same basic components as noted above for the Fourier transform near-infrared spectrometers (broadband light source, Michelson interferometer, and detector optimized for the mid-infrared spectral region.)... 

A Fourier transform infrared spectrometer consists of an infrared source, an interference modulator (usually a scanning Michelson interferometer), a sample chamber and an infrared detector. Interference signals measured at the detector are usually amplified and then digitised. A digital computer initially records and then processes the interferogram and also allows the spectral data that result to be manipulated. Permanent records of spectral data are created using a plotter or other peripheral device. 

Although VCD and ROA are presently measured in entirely different ways, future configurations of the two kinds of instruments may draw them into closer correspondence. For instance, measurement of ROA using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, with polarization modulation developed within the interferometer, has been proposed as a possible way to measure ROA [43]. 

A Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) uses an interferometer,... 

Fig. 7.1. Layout of the infrared spectrometer showing the Michelson Interferometer Optical System. An FTIR spectrometer s optical system requires two mirrors, an infrared light source, an infrared detector and a beamsplitter. The beamsplitter reflects about 50% of an incident light beam and transmits the remaining 50%. One part of this split light beam travels to a moving interferometer mirror, while the other part travels to the interferometer s stationary mirror. Both beams are reflected back to the beamsplitter where they recombine. Half of the recombined light is transmitted to the detector and half is reflected to the infrared source.

Fig. 1. Scheme of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer with a Michelson interferometer. BS, beam splitter FM, focussing mirror PM, parallelizing mirror. (Adapted from [16]). 

A typical IR spectrometer consists of the following components radiation source, sampling area, monochromator (in a dispersive instrument), an interference filter or interferometer (in a non-dispersive instrument), a detector, and a recorder or data-handling system. The instrumentation requirements for the mid-infrared, the far-infrared, and the near-infrared regions are different. Most commercial dispersive infrared spectrometers are designed to operate in the mid-infrared region (4000-400 cm ). An FTIR spectrometer with proper radiation sources and detectors can cover the entire IR region. In this section, the types of radiation sources, optical systems, and detectors used in the IR spectrometer are discussed. 

Fourier transform infrared spectrometers utilize an ingenious device called a Michelson interferometer, which... 

Conventional infrared spectrometers are known as dispersive instruments. With the advent of computer- and microprocessor-based instruments, these have been largely replaced by Fourier transform infrared (Fllk) spectrometers, which possess a number of advantages. Rather than a grating monochromator, an FTIR instrument employs an interferometer to obtain a spectrum. 

Infrared spectrometers have been commercially available since the 1940s. At that time the instruments relied on prisms to act as dispersive elements, but by. the. mid 1950s, = diffraction gratings had been introduced into dispersive machines. The most significant advances in infrared spectroscopy, however, have come about with the introduction of Fourier-transform Spectrometers. This type of instrument employs an interferometer and explbits the well established mathematical process of Fourier transformation. FT-IR spectroscopy has dramatically improved the quahty of infrared spectra and has minimised the time required to obtain data. Thus j with the improvements to computers achieved in recent years, infrared spectroscopy has made great strides. 

Pyroelectric transducers exhibit response limes thal are fast enough to allow them lo track the changes in the lime-domain signal from an interferometer. For Ihis reason, most Fourier transform infrared spectrometers use this type of transducer. 

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