Welcome to the Spectroscopy at Avian Technologies blog
post. Over the next few months, my
colleagues and I hope to give you an idea of what we are all about when it
comes to measurements- instruments, capabilities, traceability (what it is and
how we are), uncertainties and anything else you would like to discuss.
First of all, we’d like to review what we have for
instrument and measurement capabilities. While our instruments might be thought
of as ‘old’, we like to think of them as ‘vintage’- like fine wines! They are
all lovingly cared for, serviced on a regular basis, and treated in a manner
befitting their status. These are/were all top-of-the-line instruments- the
best available from their manufacturers.
Our ‘batterie de cuisine’ includes:
> Four Perkin-Elmer Lambda-9/Lambda-19 UV-Vis-NIR
spectrophometers.
These are double beam, double monochromator instruments,
the best P-E had to offer. There were about 2000 of these made, starting in
1984 and ending in 1992. They are reference instruments- typically what a
national lab or major scientific research lab would have for their ‘reference’
instrument. The Lambda-9/19’s were
great because you could add all sorts of accessories to them- integrating
spheres- both small (60 mm) and large (150-200 mm)-, specular accessories to
measure mirrors, fiber optic accessories, and even a 0:45 accessory. We have 4
spheres, a specular accessory or two, small spot kits, and the rare 0:45
accessory (only 4 ever made- three at NMI’s and we have the fourth). These
serve as our reference instruments. All of these currently reside in our NH
office.
In our Rochester facility we have the following:
> Murakami GSP-1 Goniospectrophotometer-
> Gretag- Macbeth ColorEye 7000a sphere-based color
spectrophotometer.*
> Byk-Gardner Color View 45:0 color spectrophotometer*
> Gretag- Macbeth ColorEye 2145 45:0 color
spectrophotometer.*
> Byk-Gardner TCS Hazemeter
What measurements do we do?
• Normal Transmittance- A Lambda-9/19 spectrophotometer
either with or without a 60 mm sphere accessory. This instrument is usable from
roughly 220 nm to 2700 nm, but we’re only ‘traceable’ from 250-2500 nm.
• 8°/Hemispherical Reflectance Measurements:
1) Primary instrument- Lambda-19 UV-Vis-NIR double
monochromator instrument with 150 mm. integrating sphere. Typically measured at
1 nm bandpass. This is our reference instrument and has been used for many
years at both NRC and NPL for colour measurements. These instruments are also
used for routine UV-Vis-NIR measurements of total hemispherical reflectance.
2) Macbeth ColorEye 7000a. Currently only used for
fluorescent (optically brightened) materials
45:0 Radiance Factor Measurements:
1) Primary instrument- Byk-Gardner Color-View 45:0 bench
top
2) Secondary instrument: Gretag-MacBeth ColorEye 2145a
3) Reference instrument: (in evaluation) Lambda-19
UV-Vis-NIR double monochromator instrument with Labsphere RSA-PE19a annular
0:45 accessory. Typically measured at 1 nm bandpass. This was the reference
instrument at both NRC and NPL for color measurements at 0:45 geometry
for years. (I was one of the designers).
All of our measurements (except the
goniospectrophotometric measurements) are traceable to NIST/NRC. We work
closely with both scientists at NIST, NRC (Canada), and CERAM Research in the
UK to assure instrument performance and keeping up on measurement techniques.
