September 16th webinar: The Ever-Shrinking Optical Spectrometer: Technologies, Applications and Challenges
The past twenty years have seen the successive development of mobile, portable, embedded and now wearable optical spectrometers. These technologies have evolved rapidly, along with ever more powerful consumer electronics, so that it is now possible to have spectroscopic devices embedded in sports- or smart-watches, washing machines, ovens, and vacuum cleaners. We are also seeing the next generation of personal care products enabling personalized formulations of cosmetics, and even indicating which of our teeth need additional brushing.
A wide variety of technologies have been employed including dispersive using linear arrays, MOEMS devices, Fourier and Hadamard transform, scanning Fabry-Perot and linear variable filters. The most recent generations of spectrometers, including those based on photonic or plasmonic devices, promise extreme miniaturization, and potentially very low cost, such that they could be incorporated into smartphones for the general public. In addition, some devices, working in the silicon detector region (~400 - ~1000nm) are already available for a few hundred dollars or less. This raises the question of how the necessary databases and calibrations will be created, verified and maintained, and what algorithms are employed.
This presentation will survey the field and highlight existing implementation challenges.
From the Laser Focus World web site
