An introduction to hand-held infra-red and Raman instrumentation

The past 20 years have seen widening applications of hand-held instruments which facilitate operation outside the confines of a laboratory thereby enabling on-site and in situ analysis of test materials with limited or no test material preparation. Hand-held infra-red and Raman instrumentation is now available for a wide range of applications in fields such as manufacturing, environmental protection or security, enabling staff without chemical analysis training to provide rapid answers to specific questions. This Technical Brief aims to inform both analysts and less-technically aware users of the applications, capabilities and limitations associated with the use of this equipment.