Optimization of Scan Time

The third class of features provided in some infrared spectrophotometers pertains to the optimization of the scanning time. These features decrease the running time of a spectrum below the time it would take if the scan rate were constant in abscissa units per unit time (e.g., ju/min or cm The importance of these features in a given laboratory 

As a general rule, there is more to gain from the use of programmed scan in prism instruments than in grating instruments. The reason for this is the larger variation in resolution inherent in prism instruments. In grating instruments with linear frequency abscissa presentation, the variation in spectral slit width in frequency units is generally no more than 2 1. 

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Since this is a book concerned primarily with applications, no further details are given concerning instrumentation. The reader is referred to Alpert et al. (1970), in which are discussed an optical diagram of a double-beam spectrophotometer operating variables (resolution, photometric accuracy) components of infrared spectrophotometers (sources, types of photometers, dispersing elements, detectors, amplifiers, and recorders) special operating features, such as optimization of scan time and available instruments and their specifications. The books by Martin (1966), Conn and Avery (1960), and Potts (1963), and the chapter by Herscher (1966) are also recommended for details on some of these topics. 

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