Thoughts on new spectrometer paper in HardwareX

[kirk]

Just saw this out: https://www.hardware-x.com/article/S246 ... xt?rss=yes

This article explores the development of a small, compact fiber-based spectrometer system designed to overcome the limitations of standard spectrometers, such as the high cost and restricted accessibility.
Operated by a Raspberry Pi, the fiber-based spectrometer system uses the increased computing power to provide versatile modes of operation and powerful data processing, while maintaining a small size. Specifically crafted for basic chemistry and biology lab setups, where fibers allow measurements in different conditions, and customization enables fluorescence, light scattering, and absorption measurements.
The system is adaptable and versatile, offering ease of modification and adaptation for a broad range of applications.

Wondering how it compares in terms of price/performance to the 350nm-700nm spectrometer here? https://www.thepulsar.be/article/dynami ... ctrometer/

[Luc]

I quickly went through the article and saw it's based on Hamamatsu C12880MA chip for actual spectroscopy.

According to the datasheet, the resolution is limited to 12-15 nm so the largest difference would be there. It's difficult to judge on radiometric aspects without a detailed (and carefully performed) experiment on both devices.

I don't see anything about absolute sensitivity threshold nor dynamic range in the datasheet; only that the IC can cover a range from 10^-14 to 10^-6 Watts. Since 1 photon is on the order of 10^-19 Joules, I would say the device is pretty insensitive [to be confirmed].