Ocean Optics OOIIrrad-C User Manual

OOIIrrad

OOIIrrad-C

Irradiance/Color Operating Software

Installation and Operation Manual

Document Number 000-20000-070-02-0905

Offices:

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

Ocean Optics, Inc.

830 Douglas Avenue, Dunedin, FL, USA 34698

Phone [phone]

Fax [phone]

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

Ocean Optics B.V. (Europe)

Geograaf 24, 6921 EW DUIVEN, The Netherlands

Phone [phone]

F ax 31-(0)26-3190505

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

Copyright © 2001-2005 Ocean Optics, Inc.

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 Ocean Optics, Inc.
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 Ocean Optics, Inc. in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

Trademarks

Microsoft, Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Excel are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

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. Ocean Optics, Inc. 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

What's New in This Document .................................................................................................. iii

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

Product-Related Documentation ............................................................................................... iv

Upgrades......................................................................................................................... iv

Chapter 1: OOIIrrad-C Overview........................................................1

Chapter 2: Installation and Start-up..................................................3

Overview.......................................................................................................................... 3

Installing the OOIIrrad-C Software .................................................................................. 3

Starting the OOIIrrad-C Software Application.................................................................. 8

Chapter 3: Controls and Menus.........................................................9

OOIColor/OOIIrrad Screen Controls................................................................................ 9

Spectral Graph Mode Control.................................................................................................... 9

Dark and Reference Sample Controls ...................................................................................... 11

Magnification Controls............................................................................................................... 11

Cursor Information Controls ...................................................................................................... 12

Cursor Move Controls ............................................................................................................... 13

Specific Cursor Information ....................................................................................................... 13

Cursor Display Controls ............................................................................................................ 13

Channel Parameters ................................................................................................................. 15

Scan Controls ............................................................................................................................ 15

Analysis Control......................................................................................................................... 15

Graph Counts Display ............................................................................................................... 16

OOIColor/OOIIrrad Screen Menu Functions ................................................................... 17

Irradiance Calibration/Relative Irradiance/Color Screen Menu Functions....................... 21

000-20000-070-0905 i

Table of Contents

Chapter 4: Configuration....................................................................29

Overview.......................................................................................................................... 29

Configuring Hardware Parameters .................................................................................. 29

Configuring Spectrometer Parameters ............................................................................ 30

Channels Tab ............................................................................................................................ 31

Log/Chart Tab............................................................................................................................ 34

Timing Tab................................................................................................................................. 35

General Tab............................................................................................................................... 36

Peak Measurements Tab .......................................................................................................... 37

Irradiance Measurements Tab .................................................................................................. 39

Color Measurements Tab..........................................................................................................41

Chapter 5: Calibration.........................................................................43

Overview.......................................................................................................................... 43

Calibrating Absolute Irradiance ....................................................................................... 43

Absolute Irradiance Calibration Using a Provided Cal File ....................................................... 44

Absolute Irradiance Calibration Using a Calibration Lamp ....................................................... 44

Combining UV and VIS Calibrations ......................................................................................... 50

Calibrating Relative Irradiance ........................................................................................ 52

Chapter 6: Taking Measurements......................................................55

Overview.......................................................................................................................... 55

Absolute Irradiance Measurements................................................................................. 55

Relative Irradiance Measurements.................................................................................. 57

Color Measurements ....................................................................................................... 57

Saving Data..................................................................................................................... 60

Appendix A: Menu Structure..............................................................61

Index.....................................................................................................65

ii 000-20000-070-0905

About This Manual

Document Purpose and Intended Audience

This document provides you with information to get your OOIIrrad-C software up and running.

What’s New in This Document

This version of the OOIIrrad-C Irradiance/Color Operating Software Installation and Operation Manual
adds instructions for using a .cal file provided by Ocean Optics.

Document Summary

Chapter Description

Chapter 1: OOIIrrad-C Overview

Chapter 2: Installation and Start-up

Chapter 3: Controls and Menus

Chapter 4: Configuration

Chapter 5: Calibration

Chapter 6: Taking Measurements

Appendix A: Menu Structure

Introduces the product features.

Contains information for installing and starting your
OOIIrrad-C application.

Contains descriptions of the controls and menus on
the OOIIrrad-C screens.

Provides information for configuring your
OOIIrrad-C application.

Contains instructions for calibrating your
spectrometer for absolute irradiance, relative
irradiance, and color measurements.

Provides procedures for taking absolute irradiance,
relative irradiance, and color measurements.

Provides a schematic view of the menu hierarchy

for the OOIColor/OOIIrrad screen and the
Irradiance Calibration/Relative Irradiance/Color

screens.

000-20000-070-0905 iii

About This Manual

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.

You can also access operating instructions for Ocean Optics products on the Software and Technical
Resources CD included with the system.

Engineering-level documentation is located on our website at Technical → Engineering Docs.

Upgrades

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

iv 000-20000-070-0905

Chapter 1

OOIIrrad-C Overview

The OOIIrrad-C software application provides spectroradiometric functionality for your Ocean Optics
Charge Couple Device (CCD)-based spectrometer. A CCD-based spectrometer is an instrument that
breaks light into its components using a grating and then measures the intensity at different wavelengths
(using the CCD).

Different gratings are available for use in different systems. These gratings have varying efficiencies. The
following figure illustrates a few of the common gratings used.

The curves show what typical scans look like when an ideal light of even intensities across the spectrum
is split into its wavelength components using these gratings.

In addition to grating efficiency curves, there is also an issue with the CCD’s sensitivity to different
wavelengths. The following figure shows a typical CCD sensitivity curve.

000-20000-070-0905 1

1: OOIIrrad-C Overview

These variations in efficiencies and sensitivities indicate that most systems are unique. In measurements
such as absorbance, transmittance, reflectance, or reflectance color, the absolute response is not crucial
because the nature of those measurements is based on relative measurements of light with and without a
sample. A reference measurement without the sample is taken and compared with a measurement taken
with the sample. With irradiance measurements, this is not possible because there is no sample that can be
removed for a reference measurement. A way is needed to create a conversion from raw readings (counts)
into real life measurements such as Joules and Watts. This conversion factor (calibration) is created by the
OOIIrrad-C application.

With OOIIrrad-C, you can obtain photopic data (in either lumens or lux per unit area) based on a CIE
standard visibility curve. You can also control the parameters for all system and display functions, such as
data acquisition, graph display, and cursor configuration. In addition, you can create a spreadsheet display
of lamp output intensity by wavelength, providing an easy way to chart and analyze acquired data.

The OOIIrrad-C application is under constant update and improvement. You can obtain free updates at

http://www.oceanoptics.com/software_updates.asp. OOIIrrad-C is password protected; you need the

password located on the back of your Ocean Optics CD to install the program.

2 000-20000-070-0905

Chapter 2

Installation and Start-up

Overview

This section provides the procedure for installing the OOIIrrad-C software on your computer. It
alsocontains information for starting up the application for the first time.

Installing the OOIIrrad-C Software

To install the OOIIrrad-C software, your PC must meet the following requirements:

• 100 MHz Pentium

• 32 MB RAM

• Windows 95 or later operating system

• Administrative rights on Windows 2000 and XP Pro

►

Procedure

1. Close all other applications running on the PC.

2. Start the OOIIrrad-C installation process from either the Software and Technical Resources CD
or the Ocean Optics website.

Installing from CD

a. Insert the Software and Technical Resources CD containing the OOIIrrad-C software. The

CD interface automatically launches.

b. Click on Install Ocean Optics Software.
c. Click on Application Software.
d. Click on OOIIrrad-C Operating Software. The installation process begins.

000-20000-070-0905 3

2: Installation and Start-up

Installing from the Web

a. Go to http://www.oceanoptics.com/technical/softwaredownloads.asp.
b. Right-click on OOIIrrad-C Operating Software and select Save Target As… to download

the executable to your machine.

c. Double-click on the downloaded file. The installation process begins and the Welcome

screen appears.

3. Click Next. The Choose Destination Location screen appears.

4 000-20000-070-0905

2: Installation and Start-up

4. Click the Browse button to customize your installation location, or click the Next button to
proceed. The Backup Replaced Files screen appears.

5. Click the Yes button to back up replaced files (you are then prompted for a backup location), or
click the No button to proceed. The Select Program Manager Group screen appears.

000-200000-070-0905 5

2: Installation and Start-up

6. Select a program manager group, and then click the Next button. The Start Installation screen

appears.

7. Click the Next button to begin installation. The Password screen appears.

6 000-20000-070-0905

2: Installation and Start-up

8. Enter your OOIIrrad-C password here exactly as it appears on your Ocean Optics Software and
Technical Resources CD. You can also call Ocean Optics for your password if you have

purchased this software. Once you have entered the password, click OK.

9. Click the Finish button when the Installation Complete screen appears.

10. Click the OK button to restart your computer.

You have now installed the OOIIrrad-C software application.

000-200000-070-0905 7

2: Installation and Start-up

Starting the OOIIrrad-C Software Application

Start the OOIIrrad-C software application by clicking the Windows Start button ( ). If you

chose to keep default installation values, the software can be accessed via the Start | All Programs
|Ocean Optics | OOIIrrad-C menu item. The OOIColor/OOIIrrad2 main screen appears.

After starting up the application, you must configure the type of spectrometer used in your system and the
A/D options. See

8 000-20000-070-0905

Chapter 4: Configuration.

Chapter 3

Controls and Menus

OOIColor/OOIIrrad Screen Controls

The OOIIrrad interface allows you to control OOIIrrad functionality through a variety of controls on the

OOIColor/OOIIrrad2 main screen.

Spectral Graph Mode Control

The Spectral Graph Mode (known as View Data Modes in earlier releases of OOIIrrad-C) allows you to
choose the mode in which OOIIrrad-C operates and displays data. Regardless of what mode you enter, the
unit of measurement for that mode is displayed along the vertical axis of the spectrum display.

000-20000-070-0905 9

3: Controls and Menus

The following modes are available:

• Scope Mode – Allows you to completely control signal processing prior to calibrating the spectral
response of your system and taking measurements. Use Scope Mode when configuring your
system setup, adjusting integration times, performing spectral response calibrations, and taking
dark and reference scans. In Scope Mode, OOIIrrad-C displays the raw signal transmitted from
the A/D converter. Once you open OOIIrrad-C and begin data acquisition, OOIIrrad-C displays
the raw signal from the detector expressed in A/D counts (the vertical axis of the screen). Use
caution when operating in Scope Mode since this mode represents a combination of several
factors such as the intensity of the light source, the reflectivity of the grating and mirrors in the
spectrometer, the transmission quality of the fibers, the response of the detector, and the spectral
characteristics of the sample.

• µW/cm^2/nm Mode (Absolute Irradiance Mode) – W/cm^2/nm Mode (or Absolute Irradiance
Mode) allows you to graph the calibrated irradiance intensity of the sample being measured. You
can use Absolute Irradiance Mode after you calibrate the spectral response of your system and
take a dark scan (see Scope Mode). Absolute Irradiance Mode calculates the true irradiance of a
spectrum, displayed in actual µW/cm^2/nm incident on the probe’s collection area.

• Reflectance Mode – Reflectance Mode is also the spectral processing mode used for transmission
spectroscopy, as the math necessary to compute transmission is identical to that required for
reflection. You must take both a dark and reference spectra in Scope Mode before you can access
Reflection Mode.

10 000-20000-070-0905

3: Controls and Menus

The reflection of a solution is calculated using the following equation:

…where Sλ is the sample intensity at wavelength λ, Dλ is the dark intensity at wavelength λ, and

R

is the reference intensity at wavelength λ.

λ

• Relative Irradiance Mode – Allows you to graph the irradiance intensity of the sample being

measured. You can use Relative Irradiance Mode after you calibrate the spectral response of your
system and take a dark scan (see Scope Mode). Relative Irradiance Mode calculates the irradiance
of a spectrum in relation to other intensities measured in that spectrum.

Dark and Reference Sample Controls

The Dark and Reference Sample Controls allow you to store dark and reference samples with a few clicks
of the mouse.

Disable or block the light source completely when taking a dark sample. Stray light will affect the
calculations OOIIrrad uses to measure your samples, and a corrupted dark sample will result in incorrect
measurements.

Reference samples should be taken with the same setup used to measure samples. For example, if you are
measuring a substance in water in a cuvette, your reference should be taken with the cuvette and water in
place, minus the substance to measure. This allows the OOIIrrad-C to account for variations in each
sampling system and calculate and display an accurate measurement.

The following Dark and Reference Sample Controls are available:

Item Description

Once you store a dark and reference sample, you can enable this option to

Subtract Dark check box

Store Dark button Brings up the Store Dark screen, which allows you to store a dark sample.

Ref button

remove the dark values from the measured sample. Useful only in Scope
Mode.

Brings up the Store Reference screen, which allows you to store a

reference sample.

Magnification Controls

Magnification Controls allow you to alter the manner in which the measured data is displayed.

000-200000-070-0905 11

3: Controls and Menus

When the plus sign ( ) is enabled, the mouse appears as a crosshair in the main spectral window,

which allows cursor dragging when visible. When the magnifying glass (
appears, offering you six different ways to magnify the displayed data.

Icon Allows You To . . .

Magnify a specific area by clicking and dragging a box around the specific area.

Zoom in on the horizontal scale while leaving the vertical scale unchanged.

Zoom in on the vertical scale while leaving the horizontal scale unchanged.

Revert to the last selected zoom function.

) is enabled, a pop-up menu

Zoom in both vertically and horizontally. Click once to zoom out once, or click and
hold to zoom out multiple times.

Zoom in both vertically and horizontally. Click once to zoom in once, or click and
hold to zoom in multiple times.

Cursor Information Controls

The Cursor Information Controls allow you to move the cursor in small increments and display
information about the data being acquired at the current wavelength.

12 000-20000-070-0905

3: Controls and Menus

Cursor Move Controls

The diamond-shaped control on the left side of the Cursor Information Controls allows you to move the
cursor incrementally through the acquired data, viewing wavelength-specific information at each point of
the acquired data.

Click the left and right portions to move the cursor along the wavelength axis. Click the up and down
portions to place the cursor on a different trace when multiple traces are present.

Specific Cursor Information

The Specific Cursor Information section allows you to quickly view precise data relevant to the current
position of the cursor in the spectral window.

a. Specify a name – Allows you to specify the name displayed when the Show Name option is

enabled. Click directly in the box, delete the current name, and type the new cursor name.

b. Specify wavelength – Identifies the specific wavelength of the current cursor location. Cursor can

be dragged across spectrum by bringing the cross-hair onto the cursor, and then clicking and
dragging.

c. Current intensity – Identifies the current intensity reading of the wavelength that the cursor is

currently on.

Cursor Display Controls

The Cursor Display Controls allow you to configure the appearance of the cursor on the spectral window.
These controls have numerous options.

a. No function – This small black button currently has no function.

000-200000-070-0905 13

3: Controls and Menus

b. Cursor appearance – Allows you to configure the appearance of the cursor in the spectral

window. The following submenus are available from the cursor appearance button.

Menu Item Function

Color Allows you to choose the color of the cursor in the spectral window.

Cursor Style Allows you to choose the style of cursor (crosshair, dot, etc.) in the

spectral window.

Point Style Allows you to choose the center point style of the cursor (round,

square) in the spectral window.

Line Style Allows you to choose the style of line (dotted, dashed, etc.) for the

cursor in the spectral window.

Line Width Allows you to choose the width of the line for the cursor in the spectral

window.

Show Name Displays the name specified in the Specific Cursor Information box next

to the cursor in the spectral window.

Bring to Center Centers the cursor in the spectral window (both X and Y axis).

Go to Cursor Centers the cursor in the spectral window (X axis only).

c. Cursor lock – Allows you to control the motion properties of the cursor. The following options

are available.

Option Function

Free Allows you to move the cursor anywhere on the spectral window.

Snap to Point Moves the cursor along the acquired data of the current plot.

Lock to Plot Locks the cursor to the currently selected plot.

Plot # Options Chooses the plot to use with the cursor controls (in a multichannel

spectrometer system).

14 000-20000-070-0905

3: Controls and Menus

Channel Parameters

The Channel Parameters allow you to set the following acquisition parameters for the current channel:

• Scans to Avg – The number of spectral scans averaged for each displayed spectra. This parameter
affects all channels in the system. Higher values result in better signal-to-noise ratios. Signal-to­noise improves by the square root of the number of scans averaged.

• Smoothing Size – The number of adjacent pixels to average. For example, a value of 5 averages
the pixel itself, 5 pixels to the left, and 5 pixels to the right. Greater values result in smoother data
and higher signal-to-noise ratios. If you set the value too high, a loss in spectral resolution results.
Signal-to-noise improves by the square root of the number of pixels averaged.

• Nominal Integ. Period – The time the spectrometer monitors the incoming signal. Integration time
is analogous to the shutter speed of a camera. Adjust this value in Scope Mode until the peak
intensity is approximately 3500 counts.

• Actual Integ. Period – This value is displayed after you enter a Nominal Integration Period and
take a scan. You cannot modify this value; it changes automatically with the Nominal Integration
Period. The calculation used for this value is: Nominal Integration x 1.024 milliseconds (on most
A/D converters).

Scan Controls

The Scan Controls allow you to configure the behavior of the scan process in OOIIrrad. The toggle switch
turns the scan function on or off. Once the toggle switch is turned on, the radio buttons to the right
instruct OOIIrrad to take a single scan or scan continuously until the toggle switch is turned off. Click on
the toggle switch to turn it on/off.

Analysis Control

The Analysis control allows you to activate analysis in a variety of methods for both irradiance and color
measurements. When the Analysis control is on, OOIIrrad performs calculations pertaining the
measurement you configure.

000-200000-070-0905 15

3: Controls and Menus

Toggle the switch on and off to enable the Analysis control. However, before you enable the Analysis
control, you must configure the spectrometer for the type of measurement you wish to obtain.

Procedure

►

To configure the spectrometer,

1. Click on the Configure | Spectrometer option from the menu bar.

2. Select the Irradiance Measurements or Color Measurements tab.

3. Configure the type of measurement you wish to obtain from the options on each tab.

Display in this Window Control

When the Analysis control is activated and there is more than one value to display, the values appear in
separate window. However, you can select one of the values to appear in the main window to the right of
the spectral window (see

Graph Counts Display).

Graph Counts Display

The Graph Counts display shows the raw spectral output (typically found in Scope Mode) if you are
operating in a mode other than Scope Mode. It is useful to monitor the raw-data saturation condition since
it will corrupt data.

16 000-20000-070-0905