Novel method for determination of optical rotatory dispersion spectrum by using line scan CCD

A novel method is presented for rapid measurement of optical rotatory dispersion (ORD). Light passes through a polarizer, sample and analyzer, to a transmission grating that disperses the collimated light beam. A step-motor rotating stage controlled by a digital signal processor changes the analyzer orientation. The light power is measured by a charge-coupled device (CCD) after each rotating-stage step. The optical rotation angle for each wavelength is determined from the shift between two Malus curves obtained from each CCD pixel. The ORD spectrum is obtained by transforming the optical rotation angle into specific rotation. The ORD spectrum for a standard quartz tube demonstrates good continuity and agreement with reference data.