Ocean Optics ARCoptix ANIR User Manual

ARCoptix ANIR

Fourier Transform Spectrometer
An ARCoptix Product

Installation and Operation Manual

Document Number ARC-00000-000-02-0310

Offices:

E-mail: [e-mail] (General sales inquiries)

Ocean Optics, Inc. World Headquarters

830 Douglas Ave., Dunedin, FL, USA 34698

Phone [phone]

Fax [phone]

8 a.m.– 8 p.m. (Mon-Thu), 8 a.m.– 6 p.m. (Fri) EST

[e-mail] (Questions about orders)
[e-mail] (Technical support)

Ocean Optics offers the most comprehensive, innovative and high-quality line of modular
spectroscopy tools in the world. We have partnered with ARCoptix (

www.arcoptix.com) to offer

their ARCoptix ANIR FTS spectrometer to work with our SpectraSuite Spectrometer Operating
Software. We invite you to contact us at Ocean Optics, Inc. (see front cover for contact information)
or ARCoptix S.A. with any technical questions, comments, or applications inquiries. ARCoptix can
be contacted at the following location:

ARCoptix S.A.

Trois Portes 18

2000 Neuchâtel

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E – mail: [e-mail]

Copyright © 2009 – ARCoptix, 2010 – Ocean Optics

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from ARCoptix.
This manual is sold as part of an order and subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out
or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of ARCoptix and Ocean Optics in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it
is published.

Trademarks

All products and services herein are the trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks or registered service marks of their respective
owners.

Limit of Liability

Every effort has been made to make this manual as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The
information provided is on an “as is” basis. ARCoptix and Ocean Optics shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity
with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this manual.

Table of Contents

About This Manual .............................................................................................................iii

Document Purpose and Intended Audience..............................................................................iii

Document Summary ..................................................................................................................iii

Product-Related Documentation ............................................................................................... iii

Upgrades ................................................................................................................................... iii

Warranty .................................................................................................................................... iv

Chapter 1: Introduction .....................................................................1

Overview.............................................................................................................................1

Benefits of the ARCoptix ANIR Spectrometer ...................................................................1

Product Description............................................................................................................2

Models Available ................................................................................................................4

Items Included with Shipment............................................................................................4

Chapter 2: Installing the Spectrometer ............................................5

Overview.............................................................................................................................5

Installation Overview ..........................................................................................................5

ARCoptix Software Installation ..........................................................................................6

Installing SpectraSuite-Hub Software........................................................................................6

Modifying Windows Firewall Settings ........................................................................................ 13

Configuring the ANIR Spectrometer .......................................................................................... 13

Hardware Installation .........................................................................................................14

Chapter 3: Using the Spectrometer.................................................. 15

Overview.............................................................................................................................15

Starting the SpectraSuite-Hub Service..............................................................................15

Starting the SpectraSuite-Hub Controller Utility on Vista .......................................................... 16

Using SpectraSuite.............................................................................................................16

Gain Setting........................................................................................................................18

Shutting Down ....................................................................................................................18

Chapter 4: Troubleshooting..............................................................19

Overview.............................................................................................................................19

Maintenance.......................................................................................................................19

Troubleshooting Tips..........................................................................................................19

ARC-00000-000-02-0310 i

About This Manual

Appendix A: How the ARCoptix ANIR Works ..................................23

Overview ..................................................................................................................................23

Principle of Operation ..............................................................................................................23

Reference Laser ......................................................................................................................25

Resolution ................................................................................................................ 25

Detector Nonlinearity................................................................................................ 25

Noise ........................................................................................................................ 26

Appendix B: Specifications............................................................... 27

Index ...................................................................................................29

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About This Manual

Document Purpose and Intended Audience

This document provides the user of ARCoptix ANIR Series FTS Spectrometers with instructions for
setting up, and performing experiments with their spectrometer.

Document Summary

Chapter Description

Contains descriptive information about the ARCoptix Spectrometer

Chapter 1: Introduction

and how sampling works. It also provides a list of system
requirements, interface options, and shipment components.

Chapter 2: Installing the

Spectrometer

Chapter 3: Using the

Spectrometer

Chapter 4:Troubleshooting

Appendix A: How the

ARCoptix ANIR Works

Appendix B: Specifications

Provides hardware and software installation instructions.

Describes how to use operate the spectrometer with SpectraSuite
software.

Contains recommended steps to isolate and correct common
problems.

Discusses Arcspectro ANIR technology.

Contains technical specifications for the ARCoptix ANIR Series
Spectrometer.

Product-Related Documentation

You can access documentation for Ocean Optics products by visiting our website at
http://www.oceanoptics.com. Select Technical → Operating Instructions, then choose the
appropriate document from the available drop-down lists. Or, use the Search by Model Number field
at the bottom of the web page.

Detailed instructions for SpectraSuite Spectrometer Operating Software is located at:

http://www.oceanoptics.com/technical/SpectraSuite.pdf.

Upgrades

SpectraSuite software updates will be available from Ocean Optics, Inc. from our Software
Downloads web page:

ARC-00000-000-02-0310 iii

http://www.oceanoptics.com/technical/softwaredownloads.asp.

About This Manual

Occasionally, you may find that you need to make a change or an upgrade to your system. To
facilitate these changes, you must first contact Customer Support to obtain a Return Merchandise
Authorization. Please contact Ocean Optics for specific instructions when returning a product.

Warranty

This product is covered by a limited 1-year warranty that starts 30 days after purchasing hteh
spectrometer. Using the equipment in a manner not specified by this manual may impair the
protection provided by the equipment. Information in this document is subject to change without
notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of ARCoptix S.A. or Ocean Optics, Inc. No
responsibility is assumed by ARCoptix S.A. for the use of this software, hardware or other rights of
third parties resulting from its use. The software described in this document is furnished under a
license agreement and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The
user may make a single copy of the software for archival purposes.

ARCoptix S.A. and Ocean Optics, Inc. (or Seller) warrants that its products will be free from defects
in materials and workmanship under normal use and service in general process conditions for the
effective period set out below. This warranty and its remedies are in lieu of all other warranties
expressed or implied, oral or written, either in fact or by operation of law, statutory or otherwise,
including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, which Seller specifically
disclaims. Seller shall have no liability for incidental or consequential damages of any kind arising out
of the sale, installation, or use of its products. Seller’s obligation under this warranty shall not arise
until Buyer notifies Seller of the defect. Seller’s sole responsibility under this warranty is, at its
option, to replace or repair any defective component part of the product within the warranty period.
Except in the case of an authorized distributor or seller, authorized in writing by Seller to extend this
warranty to the distributor’s customers, the warranty herein applies only to Buyer as the original
purchaser from Seller and may not be assigned, sold, or otherwise transferred to a third party. No
warranty is made with respect to used, reconstructed, refurbished, or previously owned Products,
which will be so marked on the sales order and will be sold “As Is”.

BUYER’S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY UNDER THIS WARRANTY IS THAT THE
SELLER EITHER AGREES TO REPAIR OR REPLACE, AT SELLER’S SOLE OPTION, ANY
PART OR PARTS OF SUCH PRODUCTS THAT UNDER PROPER AND NORMAL
CONDITIONS OF USE, PROVE(S) TO BE DEFECTIVE WITHIN THE APPLICABLE
WARRANTY PERIOD. ALTERNATELY, SELLER MAY AT ANY TIME, IN ITS SOLE
DISCRETION, ELECT TO DISCHARGE ITS WARRANTY OBLIGATION HEREUNDER BY
ACCEPTING THE RETURN OF ANY DEFECTIVE PRODUCT PURSUANT TO THE TERMS
SET FORTH HEREIN AND REFUNDING THE PURCHASE PRICE PAID BY BUYER.

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About This Manual

Place of Service

Seller shall use its best efforts to assist buyer to resolve all warranty related issues through Ocean
Optics technical support as soon as reasonably practicable after notification by the Buyer of a possible
defect. However, the Seller reserves the right to require the Buyer return the Product to Seller’s
production facility, transportation charges prepaid, when necessary, to provide proper warranty
service.

Effective Date

The effective date of this warranty shall begin on the date of shipment/date of invoice, whichever is
later. Products are warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for parts and labor
for 1 year with the exceptions indicated below:

Limitations

Products are warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for parts and labor for 1
year with the following exceptions:

 Any components of the system that are in direct contact with corrosive materials are

warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship at time of delivery but cannot
be further warranted due to the unknown nature of the use of the product.

 Consumable items such as lamps, cuvettes and optical filters are excluded from this warranty.

If a lamp undergoes a catastrophic failure (e.g., no light at all) within 90 days of shipment
from the factory, it will be replaced at no charge.

 Loss, damage, or defects resulting from transportation to the Buyer’s facility, improper or

inadequate maintenance by Buyer, software or interfaces supplied by the buyer, unauthorized
modification or operation outside the environmental specifications for the instrument, use by
unauthorized or untrained personnel or improper site maintenance or preparation.

 The sole and exclusive warranty applicable to software and firmware products provided by

Seller for use with a processor internal or external to the Product will be as follows: Seller
warrants that such software and firmware will conform to Seller’s program manuals or other
publicly available documentation made available by Seller current at the time of shipment to
Buyer when properly installed on that processor, provided however that Seller does not
warrant the operation of the processor or software or firmware will be uninterrupted or error
free.

 Products that have been altered or repaired by individuals other than Ocean Optics personnel

or its duly authorized representatives, unless the alteration or repair has been performed by an
authorized factory trained service technician in accordance with written procedures supplied
by Ocean Optics.

 Products that have been subject to misuse, neglect, accident, or improper installation.

The warranty herein applies only to Products within the country of original delivery. Products
transferred outside the country of original delivery, either by the Seller at the direction of the Buyer or
by Buyer’s actions subsequent to delivery, may be subject to additional charges prior to warranty
repair or replacement of such Products based on the actual location of such Products and Seller’s
warranty and/or service surcharges for such location(s).

ARC-00000-000-02-0310 v

About This Manual

vi ARC-000000-000-02-0310

Chapter 1

Introduction

Overview

The heart of an ARCoptix ANIR FTS Spectrometer is an interferometer module that contains a
micromechanical device, actuation and driving electronics. Additionally there is a laser based feed­back system to control the motion of the micromechanical device. Dedicated optical components bring
the light onto the surface of the interferometer mirrors, as well as fibers for in-coupling and out­coupling of light.

The interferometer module is packaged in a friendly cover including the detection board, all necessary
electronics with the A/D converter and the USB data transfer. The instrument is USB powered.

Figure 1-1

In Figure 1 – 1, the Fourier transform is based on the lamellar grating concept. One distinguishes the
input for the optical fiber for bringing the light to the spectrometer. The whole spectrometer is low
consumption. Data transfer to the computer and powered supply are done by the USB plug.

Benefits of the ARCoptix ANIR Spectrometer

The concept of lamellar grating interference (LGI) leads to a drastic simplification of the assembly and
alignment tolerances. Because of the use of the LGI, a different type of actuation could be used,
making the whole device extremely compact. In fact, there is no need of placing a beamsplitter in the
light path. To assure highest precision, a low power laser is used to control of the position of the
scanning system.

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1: Introduction

Thanks to micromechanics technology and to the LGI concept, this instrument could have been made
compact enough to be portable and, because of the principle, easily upgradeable to any much larger
wavelength ranges. The limitation in wavelength range is not due to the concept, but due to the
photodetector that is used. In the standard model the detection of the interferogram is carried with one
single InGaAs photodiode. A single photodiode instead of a CCD line leads to lower noise and cost­effective detection solutions, particularly in the near-IR. In addition, the choice of available detectors
is much larger than CCD and it is therefore easier to dedicate a detector to specific needs. There is no
risk of defective pixels as it is generally the case for conventional NIR spectrometers using arrays of
photodiodes.

As a result, this instrument is unrivaled and perfectly suited for detection in transmission like
measurement of gases and liquids. In particular, the absorption signatures of gases are measured with
high accuracy. The instrument is capable of recording 2 spectra per second but needs more time for
processing so that an effective measurement time results that might be larger.

The spectrometer provides a number of important benefits including the following:

 Laser controlled interferometer
 Choice of resolution
 Different amplification levels
 Data acquisition in 500 ms with an effective measurement time of 5 s
 A minimum power requirement - The spectrometer is driven by a standard USB 2.0 port

of a personal computer.

 The performance is unaffected by stray light
 The system is compact and lightweight.

The spectrometer is typically employed as a part of a system that includes a source and a sample
holder (a cuvette holder or a reflectance sphere). As an example, the spectrometer can be used with
the Tungsten Halogen Light Source and the Holder for 1-cm cuvettes. The source and cuvette holder
or reflectance sphere are acquired separately. As an alternative, the spectrometer can be directly
connected to the source to obtain the spectrum provided by the source).

The ARCoptix Near-Infrared Spectrometer can be used in a broad range of applications including

 Portable Field Measurements
 Laboratory Analyses
 Industrial Process Control

Product Description

The ARCoptix ANIR spectrometer is a lamellar grating spectrometer that combines the advantages of
Fourier Spectroscopy with micromechanics technology. The first gives exciting optical features while
the second leads to miniaturization and reliable operation. A lamellar grating interferometer is a
grating that operates in the zeroth order. This particular type of apparatus was invented by Strong [J.
Strong, and G. A. Vanasse, “Lamellar grating far-infrared interferometer”, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 50, 113­118 (1960). A scheme of the principle is illustrated in the Fig. 1.2 below.

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1: Introduction

Figure 1-2

Figure 1- 2 shows the principle of operation of a LGI. Incoming light is reflected back by a series of
fixed and mobile mirrors acting as a grating and generating a diffraction pattern. To obtain the
interferogram one records the modulation of the zero order in function of the motion of the mobile
mirrors. The path difference (or depth of the grating)

x is an important parameter and given by the

distance between the fixed and the mobile mirrors.

Contrary to the Michelson interferometer that splits wave amplitudes at the beamsplitter, the lamellar
grating interferometer divides the wavefront. At the grating, the wavefront is divided such that one
half of the beam is reflected from the front facets (fixed mirrors in Fig. 1 - 2) and one half from the
back facets (mobile mirrors in Fig. 1 - 2). The distance between the two series of mirrors determines
the optical path difference (OPD)

x between the two parts of the wave. The enormous advantage of

this configuration, compared with a Michelson interferometer, is the absence of a beamsplitter.
Indeed, any additional micro-optical component is a limitation in the particular case of micro-sized



spectrometers. In general, this type of spectrometer is used for wavelengths larger than 100

m;

below, the tolerances are too tight for most machine shops.

The ARCoptix ANIR (Near Infrared) Fiber Optic Fourier Transform Spectrometer connects to a
notebook or desktop PC via a USB 2.0 port. It does not require an external power supply. The
ARCoptix ANIR and the electronics share a single housing.

The ARCoptix ANIR can connect via the USB 2.0 port to any PC that uses a Windows XP/Vista
operating system and has spectrometer operating software installed and configured for use with your
ARCoptix ANIR.

An EEPROM memory chip in each ARCoptix ANIR spectrometer contains calibration coefficients,
coefficients, and the serial number unique to each spectrometer. ARCoptix spectrometer operating
software reads these values from the spectrometer.

The ARCoptix ANIR has two input connectors:

 FSMA receptacle that accepts a fiber optic cable with a standard SMA-905 connector

 USB port that connects to a USB host via a standard USB cable

ARC-00000-000-02-0310 3

1: Introduction

Models Available

The following ARCoptix ANIR spectrometer models are available form Ocean Optics:

ANIR 0.9-1.7 ANIR 0.9-2.6 ANIR 2.0-4.5

Spectral Range 900-1700 nm 900-2600 2000-4500

Signal to Noise >1:1000 >1:1000 >1:1000

Detector Type InGaAs InGaAs MCT

Items Included with Shipment

Important information and documentation accompany your ARCoptix NIR spectrometer shipment.

This includes:

 Packing List – The packing list is located inside a plastic bag attached to the outside of the

shipment box (the invoice is mailed separately). The items listed on the packing slip include
all of the components in the order. The packing list also includes important information, such
as the shipping and billing addresses, as well as any components on back order.

 Software CD – Each spectrometer order comes with the Software & Technical Resources CD.

This disc contains Ocean Optics software and manuals for software operation, spectrometers,
and spectroscopic accessories. Documentation is provided in Portable Document Format
(PDF). You need Adobe Acrobat Reader version 6.0 or higher to view these files.

4 ARC-000000-000-02-0310