Whether you’re a medical institution, a chemical scientist or a physics researcher, among others. You’ll be needing the tools for spectroscopy sooner or later. When that time comes, you’ll have to make sure you know which type of spectrometer does what. It is therefore that you will have to take a good look at not just what type of spectrometer, but also the line of product, and what company you buy it from .

What are spectrometers?

In a broad way of looking at the term of spectroscopy, a spectrometer is used as a tool to measure a variety of physical characteristics over a certain range or spectrum like a wavelength. The end goal of such a tool is to measure interactions of a radiation field through, for example, absorption and reflection. Optical spectrometers are an example concerned with electromagnetic radiation that falls on the optical region and the spectrum of light that it measures. Like this, there are several other versions of products that each measure different things and can therefore be used in many different ways and markets.

What differentiates each type?

There are several different kinds of Spectrometers you can find on your search for the correct one. There are many different types of applications for which your spectrometer could be used. This creates different lines of products and added applications like an NMR spectrometer or an Optical spectrometer. Below are a number of the products:

NMR spectrometer:

NMR, or Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, is a spectroscopic technique to look at a magnetic field around the nucleus of an atom. By placing samples in a magnetic field, the signal is produced which can be detected by radio receivers as the frequencies change in the resonance. NMR is based on three steps.

1. The alignment or polarization of the magnetic field;
2. The uneasiness of the alignment;
3. And lastly, the analysis of the emitted waves

Mass spectrometer:

Mass spectrometry is used to analyze a mass-to-charge ratio (m/z). This can be used for one or more separate molecules. Some of the details of these measures are the weight, the density as well as the compounds found in the molecule and determine the molecular structure.

Optical spectrometer:

An Optical spectrometer is used to measure the properties of light and light fields over an electromagnetic field. This is most often used as a way to measure the intensity of a range of light and the structures of the photons within.

Bonus software to enhance your results

Some companies like Avantes.com might offer you a type of software to enhance your spectrometer. The afore-mentioned company, for example, offers software of their own called AvaSoft. These enhancers allow for more intricate graphs and deeper access to information, requiring more difficult formulas and combinations.