What to Consider When Choosing a Laser for Raman Spectroscopy?
The ventus 532 from Laser Quantum is built for Raman spectroscopy applications, with an M2 close to unity, allowing for a tighter focal point, hence a higher intensity. Raman spectroscopy is a weak process, so you need a high intensity IR, necessary to obtain a good signal. The tight focal point is also important for spatial resolution. If you want to look at a small area/volume of a sample, you need to focus the laser to a small spot (which requires an M2 close to 1).
The ventus has a leading noise specification of <0.15% RMS, enabling a stable and consistent result in Raman spectrum. Due to the weak scattering process, you want a laser that is consistent in power. As is common in Raman, customers take multiple spectra and average these, so you need your laser to be as stable as possible to make these consistent measurements. As any change in the noise “passes” on to the final Raman spectrum, the ventus sizably reduces this risk with its low noise.
During Raman spectroscopy, having the flexibility to couple to a microscope offers ease of integration as your laser can be placed anywhere in the lab and the ventus can be free-space coupled to a microscope. And finally, the ventus has a wavelength of 532.8 nm better than ±1 nm, making it easy to find filters to suit your set-up.
To watch Laser Quantum’s Raman spectroscopy animation video, click here.
To request more information or a quotation for this or other Laser Quantum products, contact IL Photonics.