Spectrophotometer Flashcards
Photometers are?
Coloured filters
Spectrophotometer use
Devices that create a spectrum
Light sources
Provide high intensity, stable radiation at the wavelength of interest
Monochromatic light
One specific wavelength (most methods are based off this)
Ideal light source
Provides a constant intensity over an infinite range of wavelengths (does not exist)
Visible light sources
Tungsten filament lamp, quartz halide lamp, LED, LASER
UV light sources
Deuterium lamp, xenon lamp, high pressure mercury lamp
Tungsten Filament Lamp
• produces visible light
• output is a function of filament temperature
- higher temperatures; the output shifts towards blue end of the spectrum
- lower temperatures; look yellow
• emits a continuous nonlinear spectrum
• most output is in the IR region (heat)
Quartz Halide Lamp AKA Tungsten-halogen Lamp
•Quartz bulb filled with an inert gas + halogen gas
• The presence of the halogen gas causes the tungsten that evaporated from the filament to deposit back into the filament
Light Emitting Diode AKA LED
• A semiconductor light source
• Commonly used as indicator lights
• Semiconductor material is created by a process called “doping”
• p-n junction; p-type (+) material contains excess “holes” and n-type(-) material contains excess electrons
• Has two legs; long leg(anode) and short leg(cathode)
• Higher band gap the higher energy of light emitted
• Band gap is determined by materials forming p-n junction
• Monochromatic
LASER
• Monochromatic
• Various types and wavelengths available
• Important for flow cytometry
Deuterium Lamp
• Low pressure deuterium gas inside a fused silica (quartz) bulb
• Tungsten filament excited the deuterium gas molecules to an elevated state
-when the electrons relax to their ground state, light is emitted
• 160-375nm
Xenon Arc Lamp
• Ionized xenon gas produces high intensity white light
• 250-1000nm
Mercury Vapour Lamp
• Uses mercury in an excited state to produce light
• Emits a non-continuous spectrum; 184nm, 254nm, 365nm, 405nm, 436nm, 546nm, 578nm
Sources of Error
• Dirty light source
• Power fluctuations
• Forgetting to blank after changing wavelength setting