Knowledge Bank

Current RAMAN sample analysis is conducted by either dispersive RAMAN in the visible or FT/RAMAN in the near infrared. FT/RAMAN analysis has the advantage of using excitation in the near infrared where many samples that typically fluoresce in the visible do not in the near infrared. One disadvantage of FT/RAMAN is the fact many system undergo heating when infrared excitation is used. Data will be presented demonstrating that transient heating can be greatly reduced by utilizing pulsed excitation coupled with step-scan FT/RAMAN. Additionally, the advent of faster detectors with good sensitivity should ultimately permit sample analysis on most flourescing organic compounds where the flourescence decay time is slower than 5 ns. This capability can then be readily applied to FT/RAMAN systems where excitation is performed in the visible.