title: Lightweight Raman spectroscope using time-correlated photon-counting detection.
abstract: Raman spectroscopy is an important tool in understanding chemical components of various materials. However, the excessive weight and energy consumption of a conventional CCD-based Raman spectrometer forbids its applications under extreme conditions, including unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) and Mars/Moon rovers. In this article, we present a highly sensitive, shot-noise-limited, and ruggedized Raman signal acquisition using a time-correlated photon-counting system. Compared with conventional Raman spectrometers, over 95% weight, 65% energy consumption, and 70% cost could be removed through this design. This technique allows space- and UAV-based Raman spectrometers to robustly perform hyperspectral Raman acquisitions without excessive energy consumption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843;
authors.forename: Zhaokai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843;
authors.forename: Georgi I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Petrov
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843;
authors.forename: Shuna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843;
authors.forename: Javier A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904;
authors.forename: Kevin K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843; Colleges of Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843;
authors.forename: Vladislav V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Yakovlev
authors.affiliation: Colleges of Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843; Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540; Department of Physics, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76706 scully@tamu.edu.
authors.forename: Marlan O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Scully
mesh_terms: D000401:Aircraft; D000465:Algorithms; D004867:Equipment Design; D018559:Exobiology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D018535:Mars; D016081:Moon; D017785:Photons; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology / Q000295:instrumentation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018531:Spacecraft; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Raman spectroscopy; environmental sensing; lightweight spectrometer; remote sensing; time-correlated single-photon counting