What is a Continuous Wave?

Jun 5, 2017 | Uncategorized

Most common lasers generate a continuous, uninterrupted beam of light. These are called continuous wave lasers. They often have stable power and intensity. Some lasers are pulsed such that the light, and thus the energy, is only present for a short amount of time,...

What is Background Spectrum?

May 31, 2017 | Uncategorized

A background spectrum is a spectrum taken of experimental conditions without the sample of interest present. This captures background sources of light, such as room lights. It is not the same as the dark spectrum, which is the spectrum with no light present. However,...

What is a Reference Spectrum?

May 25, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Software

This is a term used in the SpectraWiz software. For absorbance and transmittance, it is the initial intensity of the reference light and is used to calculate the two quantities. It is up to the user to determine the appropriate reference to use. Check out the General...

What is a Fiber Optic Cable’s Bend Radius?

May 25, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Sampling

Fibers can be damaged if they are bent too far. The bend radius is the radius of the smallest circle a fiber can be bent into before it sustains damage. A smaller number means that a fiber can bend more sharply. The bend radius is proportional to fiber diameter, so a...

What is a Numerical Aperture?

May 25, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Properties of Light

Numerical aperture is a measure of how many angles of acceptance an optic can accept. It is described by the following equation: where NA is the numerical aperture, n is the refractive index, and is the cone angle. Assuming the optic is in air (n=1), the numerical...