New High Sensitivity Near-Infrared Mini-Spectrometers for Raman Spectroscopy

Hamamatsu’s new range of high sensitivity near-infrared TG mini-spectrometers use a specially designed back-thinned CCD, which offers a greatly reduced etaloning effect compared to conventional CCDs. This feature, combined with a high resolution of 0.3 nm and high quantum efficiency, make them an ideal solution for Raman spectroscopy applications.

Hamamatsu Photonics has introduced the newest members of its TG series of mini-spectrometers, the C11713CA and C11714CA. The new TG spectrometer modules expand on the existing Hamamatsu range and adopt a high sensitivity, silicon back-thinned CCD image sensor, specially selected to match the optical arrangement. As well as having very high sensitivity, both modules offer a very narrow spectral resolution of 0.3nm, making them ideal for Raman spectroscopy applications. The C11713CA works over the spectral range from 500nm to 600nm, with the C11714CA operating from 790nm to 920nm.

The C11713CA and C11714CA utilize Hamamatsu’s newly developed low etaloning back-thinned CCDs. Conventional back-thinned CCDs can exhibit etaloning in the near infrared region, which is problematic in certain Raman applications. Hamamatsu’s new series of back-thinned CCDs has been specifically designed to reduce this etaloning effect, making it suitable for a wider range of applications, with a particular emphasis on improving the performance of current Raman spectrometer systems.

The module consists of a palm-top size polychromator, integrated with optical elements. The back thinned CCD sensor is optimized for the wavelength range and comes with integrated image sensor driver circuit. The spectrometer module includes both sample software, DLL library and an integrated USB 2.0 interface. PC connection and data acquisition are quick and easy as the user can set measurement conditions, acquire and save data, and generate graphical displays.

The new miniature spectrometer module is ideal for Raman spectroscopy and other applications requiring a high resolution spectrometer.