learningChem
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Fourier transform spectroscopy
Greetings fellow nerds =]
I was wondering if there are any discussions about building a ft spectroscope. I found a thread about diy Raman spectroscopy, but nothing about ft.
TIA!
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ScienceSquirrel
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Thread Pruned
13-3-2012 at 05:40 |
wxyz
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Hi,
I am also very interested in "building" a FTIR spectrometer. Actually, I have made some progress , but it is a side project and don't always have time
to move it forward. Right now I have the guts of about 3 MIDAC FTIRs. The interferometer is the most delicate/essential/important part in that it is
easily damaged by storage in moist air and it would be the hardest thing for a one to DIY. I have one interferometer that I think is in good shape.
Actually I have all the parts to theoretically make a working unit except for one thing: I need a 486 or 586 PC to run the software and host the
"optical bench adaptor" card. I should be able to get one for free or cheap but so far no luck.
If I hook it up to the computer and it doesn't work I am going to take more hands on approach: probably build one Ardiuno based controller for the
interferometer and another one to collect data from the sensor.
Anyway, curious to hear what you were thinking.
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jorgbills
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I don't know the details of the specific devices you're asking about, but in general, the higher the frequency, the harder it is to treat light (or
any other phenomenon) as a wave. Mostly, this is because you need to use structures which are smaller than, or at least comparable to, the wavelength.
[Edited on 20-5-2013 by jorgbills]
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bfesser
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Thread Split
6-8-2013 at 18:59 |
smaerd
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I've thought about this for a while. I really want one! Seems like the most practical way is to buy a used one, or a broken one and fix it up. The
problem is even replacing a detector from a factory component can easily be 3,000$. I'm pretty sure the detectors they use are really only maybe
200-300$ components(not including the circuit) depending on the instrument but I could be wrong and usually am.
I won't say it's impossible but yea building an interferometer is not going to be an easy task. Very finely tuned mechanics and optics. I had a nice
PDF about this I'll see if I can find it again. The real problem with optics projects is even the bread boards break the bank let alone the
components. Although we have to start somewhere and any success at improvising such an apparatus would really shake things up!
IR sources are easy, nichrome wire works great and is often used in commercial designs.
To avoid a lot of the mechanics essentially means a cryogenic cooling system. Which is great, but access to cryogens will vary and its still not a
straight shot to my understanding.
Be interested to hear what anyone else is thinking.
[Edited on 7-8-2013 by smaerd]
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MJ101
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I found this article on hackaday.
https://hackaday.com/2015/04/22/a-diy-fourier-transform-spec...
Hopefully, this will be a good starting point for anybody who wants to build one. 
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byko3y
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The key part of the spectrometer and the one that is impossible to make yourself without complex tools is the moving interferencing reflector. So you
are pretty much forced to buy this part, either already assembled or ready for assemble. Everything else is very simple, you can get satisfactory
results without focusing the light, just simple detector required, light source is very simple, unlike raman spectrometer where simple laser diode is
too wideband to be usefull.
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