A portable, stable and precise laser differential refractometer
- Department of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. (Hong Kong)
In this work, we present a portable laser differential refractometer with real-time detection and high precision based on the Snell's law and a 2f-2f optical design. The 2f-2f configuration solves a traditional position drifting problem of the laser beam and enhances the signal stability, where a small pinhole is illuminated by the laser light and imaged to the detector by lens placed in the middle between the detector and the pinhole. However, it also leads to a larger dimension of the instrument, limiting its applications and its sensitivity that is proportional to the optical path. Therefore, for a portable device on the basis of the 2f-2f design, a combination of a mirror and a lens was developed to minimize the optical path without affecting the 2f-2f design. Our simple and compact design reaches a resolution of 10{sup −6} refractive index units (RIU). Moreover, the dimension of such a modified differential refractometer is significantly reduced to be portable. Owing to its real-time detection speed and high precision, this newly developed refractometer is particularly attractive when it is used as an independent and ultra-sensitive detector in many research and industrial applications wherein there is a time-dependent concentration change, e.g., the concentration determination, quality control, and study of kinetic processes in solution, including adsorption, sedimentation, and dissolution, to name few but not limited.
- OSTI ID:
- 22251535
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 84, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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