Big Science in a Small Box: A Pocket-Sized Raman Solution for Real-World Problems

With unprecedented specificity, and unbelievable ease-of-use, Raman spectroscopy provides an instantaneous chemical analysis without any sample preparation with liquid or solid samples inside closed containers. But Raman systems used to be laboratory-bound instruments: big, bulky, complicated, expensive, operated by experienced specialists. In contrast, many Raman applications require pocket-size, lower-cost, and easy-to-use instruments that can be operated by non-experts.

Recent technological advances in sensors, spectrometers, and lasers, as well as modern data analysis methods enable this emerging Raman application space.

Bingemann will share an overview of the new pocket-size integrated "XS" Raman spectroscopy platform, which, combined with application-specific front-end accessories and back-end data analysis via a smartphone app, can be tailored to all types of handheld Raman applications, such as substance identification, contaminant quantification, or quality control.

Some example applications of the XS platform that Bingemann will present are the quantification of methanol in counterfeit liquor, the detection of ppm-levels of an analyte using SERS substrates, and the chemical identification of a sample through library matching.

About the presenter
Dieter Bingemann, Ph.D., is a chemist and senior applications scientist at Wasatch Photonics, with over three decades of research and industry experience in spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, and applied photonics.

He earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Göttingen and leverages his deep scientific expertise to develop and support advanced optical solutions that empower researchers and industry professionals in fields ranging from biomedical imaging to materials analysis.