I think I'm in love...

It's true - hard to believe, I know. I met her yesterday, at the lab, and I got to work with her some on spectroscopy. How cool is that? She's a Seya-Namoika monochrometer, and I'm totally ditching my current spectrometer.

Perhaps that's a little bit of hyperbole, but in a way, it's also true. The Seya-Namoika is leagues beyond the spectrometer I've been using so far. With my current one, there's a very limited set of variables that I can play with to get the data I need. On the current spectrometer, I can adjust nothing. The output itself must be modulated by external influence. This can include adjusting the scale on the strip chart, the voltage across the PM tube, maybe the intensity of the light source, and that's about it. With my new monochrometer, I can adjust the scan speed and the slit width. Seriously, it was like a kid in a candy shop - I was very happy. Being able to adjust the scan speed is useful, but not necessarily critical, since the same effect can generally be achieved by increasing the speed of the strip chart. For most things though, it makes your life much easier to be able to increase/decrease the scan rate of the monochrometer.

The most important thing is the ability to adjust the slit width. In the case of this monochrometer, light from a source enters through an adjustable slit, hits a reflective diffraction grating, and exits through another slit. The monochrometer scans from one wavelength to another, and the light (or lack thereof) at that wavelength passes across the exit slit. If you have your slits adjusted wrong, you can end up with your spectral lines muddied together - that's bad. By adjusting the slits, you are able to gain clearer "resolution" of your spectral lines, so distinguishing them is much easier.

It must be said however - and Dr. Bickel would kill me if I didn't point this out - that the other spectrometer is a perfectly good piece of equipment, and it has served me faithfully and well. The reason it's exciting to have the monochrometer is because it gives me a greater range of capabilities. For general questions, the spectrometer is fine. If you want me to answer a question about a specific part of the spectrum, I'll probably take it downstairs to the monochrometer so that I have greater control over the data, and can give an good answer.