Near-infrared grating spectrometer for mobile phone applications

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a well-established technique for the chemical analysis of organic and inorganic matter. Accordingly, spectroscopic instrumentation of different complexity has been developed and is currently commercially available. However, there are an increasing number of new mobile applications that have come into focus and that cannot be addressed by the existing technology due to size and cost. Therefore, a new miniaturized scanning grating spectrometer for NIR spectroscopy has been developed at Fraunhofer IPMS. It is based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology, and has been designed to meet the requirements for mobile application, regarding spectral range, resolution, overall size, robustness, and cost. The MEMS spectrometer covers a spectral range from 950nm to 1900nm at a resolution of 10nm. The instrument is extremely small and has a volume of only 2.1cm(3). Therefore, it is well suited for integration, even into a mobile phone. A first sample of the new spectrometer has been manufactured and put into operation. The results of a series of test measurements are in good agreement with the requirements and specifications