title: Spectrograph based on a single diffractive element for real-time measurement of circular dichroism.
abstract: In this study, a novel and simple diffractive spectrographic method for real-time measurements of circular dichroism (CD) is considered from a theoretical and experimental approach. A demonstrator prototype of the CD spectrograph has been developed and its performance has been compared with a commercial phase-modulation CD spectrometer. The main element of the device is a polarization holographic grating, recorded in a thin photosensitive organic film, by two interfering opposite circularly polarized beams. A peculiarity of this grating is that the amplitude of the +1 (-1) order of diffraction is proportional to the right (left) circular polarization component of the incoming beam. Here we demonstrate that the CD spectrum of a specimen can be easily evaluated from the intensities of the diffracted beams. A white light beam passing through the specimen is diffracted from the grating and the intensities of the +/-1 orders of diffraction are measured. Due to the spectral selectivity of the grating, the CD at each wavelength can be evaluated at the same time using two linear array detectors.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica and CNR-INFM LICRYL Laboratory and Excellence Centre CEMIF.CAL, Università della Calabria, I-87036, Rende (Cs), Italy.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pagliusi
authors.forename: Clementina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Provenzano
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzulla
authors.forename: Loris
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giorgini
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cipparrone