Hiroshi Futami

Automatic wide‐range scanning and calibration over 220–740 nm using a dye laser with a rapid cell exchanger

A pulsed dye laser system fully controlled by a microcomputer has been developed as a tunable light source for analytical spectroscopy. The system has 13 dyes with a rapid replacement mechanism and a frequency doubler inside, and any desired wavelength from 220 to 740 nm can be instantaneously generated by the aid of the microcomputer control. The absolute wavelength can be automatically calibrated with a newly developed optogalvanic wavemeter with an accuracy of ±1 cm−1 over the whole spectral range.

Optogalvanic Wavelength Calibrator for an Automatic Tunable Laser System

A simple, fully-automatic wavelength calibrator using the optogaivanic (OG) effect is demonstrated with an automatic dye laser system developed for analytical spectroscopy. When a target wavelength is put into the keyboard, the computer scans the laser wavelength, and takes OG signals of the hollow cathode lamp which is installed in the laser system. Then the wavelength of the laser is tuned to the target, comparing with the reference OG line. The reproducibility in the absolute wavelength calibration is demonstrated to be better than ±1 cm-1 over a wide spectral range from 220 nm to 740 nm. The calibration time is less than thirty seconds.