title: Performance and application of a new planar array infrared spectrograph operating in the mid-infrared (2000-975 cm(-1)) fingerprint region.
abstract: A no-moving-part planar array infrared spectrograph (PA-IR) equipped with a 256 x 256 mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) focal plane array has been designed and constructed. The performance of the instrument, whose frequency range extends from 2000-975 cm(-1), has been assessed in terms of resolution, bandwidth, and signal-to-noise ratio. The PA-IR spectrograph is able to record spectra with an 8.7 ms time resolution and has peak-to-peak noise levels as low as 2.4 x 10(-4) A.U. As a demonstration of the potential of PA-IR, the dynamics of reorientation of a liquid crystalline sample exposed to a single electric field pulse has been studied. It was shown that PA-IR can be used for the simultaneous acquisition of two orthogonally polarized spectra. The advantages and limitations of PA-IR, step-scan Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and ultrarapid-scanning FT-IR for real-time studies of reversible and irreversible phenomena are thoroughly discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716-3106, USA.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pellerin
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Snively
authors.forename: D Bruce
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Chase
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rabolt
mesh_terms: D011108:Polymers / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000032:analysis; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D011137:Polystyrenes; C422409:liquid crystal polymer