Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026
13:31
High Speed Sub-GHz Spectrometer for Brillouin Scattering Analysis
Published on: December 22, 2015
Summary
A new focusing cam design for McPherson-type vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) scanning monochromators is presented. This design allows for accurate focusing across the entire operational wavelength range, improving VUV spectroscopy performance.
Area of Science:
- Optical Engineering
- Spectroscopy
- Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) Technology
Background:
- McPherson-type monochromators are crucial for VUV spectroscopy.
- Maintaining accurate focus across a wavelength range is critical for spectral resolution and signal intensity.
- Existing cam designs may have limitations in maintaining focus over broad operational ranges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel focusing cam design for McPherson-type VUV scanning monochromators.
- To provide a method for calculating the cam shape for optimal focusing.
- To ensure accurate optical focus throughout the monochromator's operational wavelength range.
Main Methods:
- The study describes the design principles of a new focusing cam.
- An approximate analytic procedure is detailed for calculating the cam's shape.
- The procedure aims for sufficient accuracy to maintain focus.
Main Results:
- A focusing cam design suitable for McPherson-type VUV scanning monochromators has been developed.
- The analytic procedure enables rapid calculation of the cam shape.
- The design ensures accurate focus over the operational wavelength range.
Conclusions:
- The presented focusing cam design and calculation method are effective for McPherson-type VUV monochromators.
- This innovation can enhance the performance and reliability of VUV spectroscopic instruments.
- Accurate focusing is achievable across the VUV spectrum using this design.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy
Phase-Contrast Microscopes
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...
01:16Focusing of Light in the Eye
Light rays enter the eye through the cornea, a transparent dome-shaped tissue that is the eye's outermost layer. The cornea bends or refracts, light rays traveling to the pupil. The shape of the cornea determines how much of the light is bent and whether the image will be focused correctly on the retina at the back of the eye. Once the light has passed through both refraction layers, it converges into a single focal point onto a small area. This is where photoreceptors start transforming...
01:16Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy
Confocal microscopy is an advanced microscopic technique. The prime advantage of the confocal microscope over other microscopy techniques is its ability to block the out-of-focus light from the illuminated samples using pinholes. It is widely used with fluorescence optics to obtain high-resolution, sharp contrast images. Unlike optical microscopes, confocal microscopes use a focused beam of light laser to scan the entire sample surface at different z-planes. These microscopes are, therefore,...
01:05Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy
Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy or TIRF is an advanced microscopic technique used to visualize fluorophores in samples close to a solid surface with a higher refractive index, such as a glass coverslip. TIRF only allows fluorophores in proximity to the solid surface to be excited. When light from a medium with a lower refractive index (such as air) hits the glass coverslip at a critical angle, the light undergoes total internal reflection stead of passing through the glass.
01:14UV–Vis Spectrometers
The absorbance of UV and visible (UV–visible) radiations is measured using a UV–visible spectrophotometer. Deuterium lamps, which emit UV radiation, and tungsten lamps, which produce radiation in the visible region, are used as light sources in UV–visible spectrophotometers. A monochromator or prism is used for diffraction grating, i.e., to split the incoming radiation into different wavelengths. A system of slits is used to focus the desired wavelength on the sample cell. Samples for...