Spectrometer

Synonyms

Spectroradiometer

Definition

A spectrometer is an optical instrument designed to measure the spectrum and stimulus of a light source or self-luminous object. The prefix “spectral” is an abbreviation of the phrase “spectral concentration of,” which is defined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) as the “quotient of the radiometric quantity taken over an infinitesimal range on either side of a given wavelength, by the range”.

Overview

Basic Principles

A spectrometer receives light, disperses the light, and converts the optical signals (or more generally, electromagnetic radiation signals) to electrical signals. It provides the radiometric quantities in narrow wavelength intervals. Because many sources have line structures, it is useful to sample the spectrum with narrow bandwidth and wavelength increments [1, 2]. In general, spectral irradiance varies from point to point on the surface. In practice, it is important to note how radiant flux varies with...