Spectral Resolution and

Spectrometers
A Brief Guide to Understanding and
Obtaining the Proper Resolution of
the 785 Raman System.

Spectral Resolution and

Spectrometers
How does a monochromator work?
How to calculate spectral resolution.
How does entrance and exit slit width effect the
resolution?
What defines which slit is used to calculate
resolution?
What should we report as our resolution and
how do we obtain it?

How does a Monochromator work?

Figure 1: Diagram of
the common CzernyTurner Monochromator
design

Light (A) is focused onto an entrance slit (B) and is collimated by a

curved mirror (C). The collimated beam is diffracted from a rotatable
grating (D) and the dispersed beam re-focused by a second mirror (E)
at the exit slit (F). Each wavelength of light is focused to a different
position at the slit, and the wavelength which is transmitted through
the slit (G) depends on the rotation angle of the grating.

Monochromator vs. Spectrometer

A spectrometer is a
monochromator with
an array type detector
and no exit slit.
By having no slit at the
exit (or by having the
slit all the way open),
you can detect all of
the wavelengths
focused at the exit
focal plane.
Figure 2: Spectrometer with grating turret and CCD detector

785 Raman Spectrometer

Grating turret holding 3
gratings of different
groove density
Entrance slit controlled
by a micrometer coupled
to a fiber optic.

An artists rendering of the

SpectraPro 500i Spectrometer

Exit where CCD

detector is located

Calculating Spectral Resolution

In the most fundamental sense, both bandpass and
resolution are used as a measure of an instruments
ability to separate adjacent spectral lines.
Spectral bandpass is the FWHM of the wavelength
distribution passed by the exit slit.
Resolution is related to bandpass but determines
whether the separation of two peaks can be
distinguished.

Resolution of an instrument is limited by the

FWHM of its Instrumental Profile.

FWHM of Instrumental Profile

FWHM = (d2(slits) + d2(resolution) + d2(line))
d2(slits) bandpass determined by finite spectrometer slit widths
and the linear dispersion of the grating.

d2(resolution) the limiting resolution of the spectrometer which

incorporates system aberrations, diffraction effects, and the laser
line width of our system.

d2(line) natural line width of the spectral line being probed.

This FWHM is our limit of resolution for the spectrometer.

How do you calculate the FWHM of

the Instrumental Profile?
The instrumental profile FWHM is something you can
measure experimentally.
d2(line): By only observing the 785 laser line with the
spectrometer we can eliminate the broadening of the
FWHM due to the natural line width of a spectral line.
d2(slits): The bandpass due to the slit width and the grating
of the spectrometer can be calculated.
d2(resolution): The limiting resolution of the spectrometer is
something that you solve for knowing the other variables
of the FWHM equation.

How to Calculate Bandpass

BP = W Rd
where: Rd is reciprocal linear dispersion
W is the slit width of the entrance or exit slit
(which ever is larger)

The reciprocal linear dispersion represents the number of

wavelength intervals (e.g., nm) contained in each interval of
distance (e.g., mm) along the focal plane.
Rd = d/dx = (d cos / (f m)

At small angles of diffraction ( < 20) then cos

Rd = d / (f m)

BP = W (d / (f m))
The only thing left to do now is to determine what our slit
width should be to solve for our bandpass.

Sample Bandpass Calculation

Given a 1200 gr/mm grating, an angle of reflection less than 20, and f
= 500 mm, what is the BP of a spectrometer with a slit width of 50 m?

BP = W Rd
d = (1 mm/ 1200 gr) 106 (nm/mm) = 833.33 nm/gr
W = 50 m 10-3 (m/mm) = 0.05 mm
f = 500 mm
Rd = d / (f m) = 833.33 nm / (500 mm 1)
Rd = 1.667 nm/mm
BP = 0.05 mm 1.667 nm/mm

BP = 0.083 nm

Two Questions need to be Addressed

Question 1:
Which slit width do you use to calculate the bandpass
with?
Earlier it was stated that the slit width that defines the BP is the
larger of the entrance and exit slit.
Our spectrometers do not really have an exit slit, instead a CCD
detector sits in the focal plane of the exit, so what defines the exit
slit?!?!

Question 2:
Is the bandpass a close enough estimation of the FWHM of
the instrumental profile, our limiting resolution?

What defines our exit slit?

A CCD is an array detector with each pixel
acting as a tiny individual detector.
The short answer to the our question is that the
size of a single pixel may define the exit slit
width. But is this true?

Near level
slope.

Near level
slope again,
is this a
pattern?

Bumps in the slope due to hysteresis of the

micrometer controlling entrance slit width

 Setting the entrance

slit smaller that 40 m
will not improve
resolution!

Both gratings yield a relatively constant FWHM until

approximately a 40 m slit width meaning the exit slit is
defined by 2 pixels of 20 m each.

Is the bandpass a close enough estimation

of the limiting FWHM instrumental profile?
As you have already seen it isnt, but to what
extent?
What causes this difference?
FWHM = (d2(slits) + d2(resolution) + d2(line))
Does this trend extend over a wide range?

Actual FWHM compared to

predicted BP calculations.
600 gr/mm

Slit Width (m)

BP calc. (cm-1)

Actual FWHM (cm-1) at 785 nm

10

0.503063005

2.331401982

20

1.006126011

2.393937952

30

1.49296118

2.435301932

35

1.752606605

2.530827112

40

1.996024192

2.673016324

45

2.255669619

2.904527885

50

2.499087208

3.155810158

60

3.00215023

3.496531409

70

3.50521326

4.015252055

80

3.992048457

4.688346393

90

4.495111503

5.170371898

100

4.99817456

5.779925324

120

6.004300711

6.946104285

Take Home Messages

40 m entrance slit size for minimum resolution.
Bandpass is not an accurate representation of the
resolution achievable by our spectrometers.
FWHM = (d2(slits) + d2(resolution) + d2(line))
The FWHM of the instrumental profile can be
measured experimentally and should be done when
conducting experiments so as to report the correct
resolution achievable at that time.

Take Home Messages Cont

The two largest contributing factors to the
broadening of the instrumental profile are:
Laser line width
Bandpass (which grating you chose controls the
dispersion which dictates the bandpass)

It is also very important to note that condensed

phase molecules have natural line widths much
larger than either of these cases and will dominate
the resolution of your spectrum
Your limiting resolution is still important when you
are looking for shifts in a spectrum.

Thank You !