Go Spectro
Turn Your Smartphone into a Spectrometer
The GoyaLab GoSpectro is a device that turns any smartphone or tablet into an ultracompact and powerful handheld spectrometer. This tool enables spectral analysis of light sources, optical filters and various coloured objects by measuring emission, absorption, reflection and transmission spectra with unmatched compactness and ease of use. It is the ideal companion for light characterization in the field or in the lab.
GoSpectro is sensitive over the entire visible range (400 nm – 750 nm) with a spectral resolution of less than 10 nm (camera dependent) and a reproducibility of 1 nm. This revolutionary device allows the spectral characterization of light sources as well as measured spectra in emission, transmission or reflection, with unparalleled compactness.
GoSpectro takes advantage of the camera in the smartphone or tablet, and is easily calibrated by the user in a few seconds with any compact fluorescent light bulb or fluorescent tube. An optical fibre adaptor is available for the GoSpectro to increase usability in certain applications.
The main screen (shown above) of the mobile app (iOS and Android) provides access to functions for autoscaling the spectrum on the vertical axis, correcting the baseline, saving the spectrum, subtracting a reference spectrum and finding the highest intensity peak.
In this post, we demonstrate how the GoSpectro can be used as a measurement tool for lighting and filters identification applications.
Example: GoSpectro as a Measurement Tool for Lighting
The advent of LEDs has been a game-changer for the lighting industry. Indeed, LEDs have already deeply penetrated the automotive and indoor lighting sector and are spreading across various outdoor lighting applications for highways, roadways, bridges and tunnels. This paradigm shift calls for new tools for the characterization of such light sources.
GoSpectro has been tested on various lamps (LED, halogen, compact fluorescent, etc.) and on optical filters. The measured spectra can be used to determine the Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) of light sources and the transmission curve of optical filters.
In this example, GoSpectro was used to measure the emission spectrum of different types of light sources. These emission spectra are very specific and we can use them to clearly identify the type of lamp under investigation, even at a far distance. This is particularly useful for the maintenance of street and roadway lighting.
We carried out the tests on halogen lamp and a “cool” LED to try and determine their Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT). Using the intensity calibration function available on the GoSpectro application we acquired spectra. Then, from the measured spectra we calculated the CCT:
The calculated CCTs are in good agreement with the theoretical values and the spectra show the typical features expected from a halogen lamp (black body) and from an LED light source.
Why use fibre optic probes for temperature measurement🌡️
When you find that conventional temperature sensors based on resistors or capacitors, or simple wire-based sensors such as thermocouples, just won’t operate properly in a challenging environment, look instead to the multiple benefits provided by fibre optic temperature probes.
Fully dielectric construction of the sensor and its attached fibre optic cable gives immunity to the effects of EMI/RFI, allowing use in high voltage environments, magnetic resonance imaging systems and high magnetic fields. The material construction further allows use in radiation, high vacuum and explosive areas, and the physical dimensions typical of fibre optics allows the probe to be treated essentially as an electrical cable, routed along complex pathways and along conduits, but without any of the disadvantages of inaccuracies due to the influence of electromagnetic fields.
One main growth area for fibre optic temperature probes has been in the automotive segment, involving test and development of electric vehicles (EV) including the motors, charging stations and batteries. Faster and accurate temperature measurement is necessary at each stage of EV product development, at both individual component level for identifying performance limits and temperature behavior of individual components, and for fully assembled vehicles to ensure the overall performance and safety.
High voltage connections and operations within the vehicle bring challenges in terms of safety, limited access and electromagnetic noise issues during testing and measurements. Fibre optic based temperature probes are becoming more popular in testing electric and hybrid vehicles due to their immunity to electromagnetic fields, ruggedness, small size, fast response, high accuracy and intrinsic safety of operation.
Our partner Rugged Monitoring has extensive involvement in this application area. [https://www.ruggedmonitoring.com/solutions-details/fiber-optic-temperature-sensors-in-electric-vehicle-temperature-testing/5c9c5fb493c0cc0001d3d7b5 ]. If your temperature instrumentation in EV development and testing is revealing the limitations of conventional sensor technology, ask us how fibre optic temperature probes will solve these issues and provide methods of temperature measurement that can’t be made in any other way.
New products added across our website
These past few weeks have seen a rash of products released from our partners, so here is a quick summary of what’s new:
Gamma Scientific‘s latest SpectralLED® light source, the RS-7-2 VIS SWIR, features two light engines mounted onto a 500 mm integrating sphere with 150 mm output port to offer a spatial uniformity of >98% across an 8° field of view. The solid-state design incorporates 31 discrete visible wavelengths, and 10 shortwave infrared wavelengths, ranging from 380 to 1700 nm for synthesis of commercially available light sources. Custom wavelength options are also available. For more information, visit our Gamma Scientific SpectralLED® page.
Lyncée Tec have added to their digital holographic inspection microscope range with the launch of the R100 and R200 Industrial DHM® Systems.
These compact and lightweight 3D optical profilometers with interferometric resolution acquire data instantaneously over the full field of view, and at camera frame rate by using a scannerless measurement technology unlike other optical profilometers.
- Sample can be measured in transit
- No moving parts
- Unaffected by vibration
- Characterises large areas fast for high throughput
For more information, visit our Lyncée Tec Industrial DHM® Systems page.
Siskiyou now offer a motorised version of their MMF mirror flipper mount. Designed to be used in layouts where optics or detectors need to be in place for one experiment, and then removed for another, the MMF.sd offers <50 µradian repeatability. Control of the mount position is by either wireless fob or TTL input. For more information, please visit our Siskiyou mirror mounts page.
Vescent has been developing low-SWaP fibre lasers for deployed applications, offering a variety of custom packaging options and control electronics to meet the most demanding requirements. Their latest offering is the FO-100 oscillator, a core piece of equipment for femtosecond oscillator and frequency comb experiments. Built around an Erbium-doped fibre, it can deliver sub-100 fs pulses with a bandwidth of over 40 nm, given an appropriate pump input and thermal control loops. For more information on this and related products, visit our Vescent Mode Locked Lasers page.
November 2019 newsletter now online
The Elliot Scientific November 2019 Newsletter is now online.
In this month’s issue…
Rugged Monitoring announce an addition to their range of fibre optic temperature monitors and that they’ve been awarded ISO 9001:2015 certification.
Gamma Scientific release an OEM version of their flagship SpectralLED light source, the tunable LED-based RS-7.
We introduce 3 new filters from the NoIR Laser range of protective eyewear for users working with lasers and other intense light sources.
…and round off with a look at Professor Wolfgang Drexler working on Optical Coherence Tomography at the Centre for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in Vienna.
If you would like us to keep you up to date through our monthly email newsletters, then subscribe using this link.
Photonics West opens today – Elliot Scientific in Booth 4660
The annual Photonics West group of exhibitions and conferences organised by SPIE – the international society for optics and photonics – opens today and runs till Thursday at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.
Elliot Scientific is exhibiting in Booth 4660 – look out for our banner (right) and new background (below).
We will be demonstrating our renowned range of XYZ flexure stages and precision micro- and nano-positioning slides, our fully automated DAli3 alignment system, as well as showing our Optical Tweezers add-on for professional microscopes.
More information can be found out about Photonics West 2019 here
Elliot Scientific’s 2018 newsletters published in one volume
Elliot Scientific’s renowned monthly newsletters have been compiled into a single edition for the year 2018.
The 32-page volume can be:
Read online via Issuu
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August 2018 newsletter now online…
The Elliot Scientific August newsletter is now available. In this issue an IPG laser, Lake Shore temperature sensors and Siskiyou IXF components are used in a breakthrough Los Alamos & University of New Mexico all optical cryocooler; microscopists can benefit from Elliot Scientific Optical Tweezers, the Mad City Labs RM21 platform, and microspectroscopy from CRAIC Technologies; plus ICEC27-ICMC 2018 in Oxford and more…
To view it in a browser, click here.
To read it magazine-style online, click here.
To download it as a PDF, click here.
If you would like us to keep you up to date through our monthly email newsletters, then subscribe using this link.
Laser Focus World features Siskiyou IXF mounts on cover for Los Alamos/UNM story
The July issue of Laser Focus World magazine uses a photo of a YLF:Yb crystal mounted between two top-adjustable Siskiyou IXF monolithic tip/tilt flexure mounts to illustrate their feature story on an all-solid-state optical cryocooler developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico.
Solid-state optical refrigeration uses anti-Stokes fluorescence to cool macroscopic objects to cryogenic temperatures without the annoying vibrations typically introduced by mechanical cryocooling systems.
The crystal was excited by a low power linearly-polarised continuous-wave fibre laser by IPG Photonics, while the temperature was monitored with a calibrated DT-670-SD silicon diode from Lake Shore Cryotronics.
Coupling the laser light to the crystal was achieved by using an astigmatic Herriott cell, with the optics held in vacuum compatible Siskiyou IXF flexure mounts… known for their excellent mechanical and thermal properties.
Researchers in the UK or Ireland wishing to replicate this experiment can contact us for research lasers from IPG Photonics, sensors and instrumentation from Lake Shore Cryotronics, and the full range of mounts and stages from Siskiyou. Elliot Scientific can also be approached to supply optics and custom machined parts as well.
The full paper describing the experiment can be read here on nature.com.
July 2018 Newsletter Out Now
The Elliot Scientific July newsletter is now available. In this issue we congratulate Kinetic Systems for their 50 years of designing and manufacturing vibration isolation systems, get a new angle on Siskiyou Corporation’s range of tilt platforms, and look at NoIR’s trendy yet practical laser safety eyewear. Plus robust polarizers from CODIXX and more…
To view it in a browser, click here.
To read it magazine-style online, click here.
To download it as a PDF, click here.
Don’t want to miss our next issue? Sign up for the email version here.
June 2018 Newsletter Out Now
The Elliot Scientific June newsletter is now available. In this issue we reveal new ultrafast fiber lasers from IPG Photonics, uncover new fiber-optic thermometry systems by Rugged Monitoring, reintroduce Tecella patch clamp amplifiers to the UK and Ireland, and announce new mounts for square optics from the Siskiyou Corporation, plus Photonex Scotland and more…
To view it in a browser, click here.
To read it magazine-style online, click here.
To download it as a PDF, click here.
If you would like us to keep you up to date through our monthly email newsletters, then subscribe using this link.
On Thursday, Photonex Scotland opens in Edinburgh
Photonex Scotland opens in Edinburgh on Thursday, bringing together the UK’s top photonics technology suppliers, leading researchers and invited speakers for a very special one-day event on June 14th at the University of Edinburgh’s South Hall complex.
Elliot Scientific will be among the 25 companies dedicated to optics, biophotonics and imaging technology – allowing you to view the latest photonics solutions, optical components, instruments and systems, as well as a conference and tutorials.
Photonics is an enabling technology, so you can only really find out how a company can help you in your work by face-to-face contact. Elliot Scientific’s Solution Science is more than just a slogan, it’s our approach to providing the tools and equipment you need to get the results you want.
Come and talk to us about your project.
New IPG ultrafast fibre lasers for research now available through Elliot Scientific
IPG Photonics has developed a range of green, infrared, and mid-IR high speed fibre and fiber-to-bulk hybrid lasers operating in the pico and femtosecond regimes, making them ideal for scientific and medical research.
Ultrashort pulse durations between 10-11 and 10-13 seconds are generated by a master oscillator/ fibre power amplifier (MOFPA) architecture, and are particularly well suited for generating pulse energies from several microjoules to about 1 mJ with repetition rates from 10 kHz to 3 MHz.
Elliot Scientific offers these pulsed lasers at various wavelengths, from UV to Mid-IR, allowing researchers to perform many different experiments. Material process engineering , such as flat panel displays; thin films; and semiconductor processing, can also benefit.
Features
- Wide selection of wavelengths
- Pulse energy is independent of PRR
- Average power from 1 to 100 W
- Pulse energy is independent of average power
- PRR from 10 kHz to 3 MHz
- Constant beam mode quality
- Excellent pointing stability
- Compact and efficient
For more information, please contact us.
Elliot Scientific 