JPH04270943A - Spectrum analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simultaneously obtain not only a plurality of spectrum results but also a plurality of data necessary and sufficient in spectrum analysis by separately introducing the lights from a plurality of light paths at the same time by one apparatus. CONSTITUTION:A spectrum analyser is equipped with a data light guiding means guiding the reflected light or transmitted light (hereinbelow referred to as data light generically) from a sample to a spectroscope 21 through a plurality of fiber optical systems 17-20, the spectroscope 21 introducing separate data lights in a state divided in the longitudinal direction of an incident slit 27 and spectrally diffracting said lights to emit them in a state separated at every separate data lights and a two-dimensional photodetector 22 detecting respective spectrum results.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to a spectroscopic analyzer, and more specifically, a plurality of information beams are simultaneously introduced into one spectrometer through a plurality of fiber optical systems, and the spectroscopic results of the plurality of information beams are simultaneously detected. This relates to a spectroscopic analysis device that can be used.

0002

[Prior Art] In general, optical analysis methods are not only non-contact and non-destructive to the sample, but also analysis methods using particle beams such as electron beams and ion beams cannot be applied in air, solution, or liquid. A major feature of this method is that it allows analysis at the environmental level. Spectroscopic analysis is one of the optical analysis methods. Conventional spectroscopic analyzers used for spectroscopic analysis mainly have a configuration as shown in FIG.

This spectroscopic analyzer is an optical fiber type in terms of photometry, and the light from a light source 1 is passed through a single optical fiber 2.
The transmitted light is introduced into the spectrometer 5 through a single optical fiber 4 for spectroscopy.
The emitted light is detected by an electron multiplier tube 6. The spectrometer 5 is configured to separate the light introduced from the entrance side slit 7 and output it from the exit side slit 8.
The emitted light has different wavelengths in the direction perpendicular to the emitting slit 8, and the intensity of the light at each wavelength is meaningful as information.

Other conventional spectrometers include the single beam method, double beam method, two-wavelength method, polarization photometry method, and microphotometry method in terms of photometry, but all of them use optical fibers. It is something that has not been done yet. Among these, the polarization photometry type has a polarizer in the middle of the incident optical path guided to the spectrometer, and the polarizer can be rotated around the optical axis to detect a specific plane of polarization. It can be extracted as light. In addition, in the microphotometric type, a single information light obtained from the microscope optical system is introduced into a spectrometer, separated into spectra, and detected by a photodetector. In any case, one conventional spectroscopic analyzer obtains one spectral result for one information beam in one measurement.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, the spectrometer of a conventional spectroscopic analysis device obtains one spectral result for one information beam in one measurement, and therefore has a single function. Ta. Such a single-function device has a problem in that in order to obtain necessary data in spectroscopic analysis, for example, Raman analysis, measurements must be performed at least four times.

That is, Raman scattering in Raman spectroscopy is light scattering in which the vibration of incident light is shifted by a frequency specific to a material. In other words, by measuring the shift in optical frequency, it is possible to identify the substance and analyze the state of the substance. In order to achieve this objective, it is necessary to vary the polarization state of the incident light and the polarization state of the Raman scattered light generated from the sample. Furthermore, when the sample is a crystal, it is necessary to strictly determine not only the direction in which the irradiated light but also the collection direction of the Raman scattered light is collected. More specifically, light is a transverse electromagnetic wave, and light traveling in the same direction has two independent vibration planes that are orthogonal to each other, and the data necessary for Raman analysis is collected in these two independent vibration directions. There is a need to. Therefore, there are two irradiation states in which the plane of polarization of the light that irradiates the sample is set in a predetermined direction that is 90 degrees different from each other, and the other is that the plane of polarization of the scattered light, which is information light from the sample, is defined with a polarizer or the like. It is necessary to have two types of incidence conditions in which wavefronts that differ by 90 degrees from each other are introduced into the spectrometer, and it is necessary to record four types of data in total. In other words, with a conventional single-function spectrometer, measurements must be performed four times. For this reason, Raman analysis of substances that change from moment to moment, such as chemically unstable substances or biological substances, has been extremely difficult.

[0007] Also, the single function means that a single spectrometer cannot record multiple pieces of information that would normally have to be recorded separately at the same time. There are some problems that make it difficult to apply.

[0008] In view of the above, the present invention provides a spectroscopic analysis method that can obtain data in one simultaneous measurement, which could not be obtained without performing multiple measurements with a single conventional spectrometer. The task is to provide equipment.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The means of the present invention provides a plurality of information lights having information for analysis, that is, reflected light or transmitted light from a sample, or reflected light or transmitted light from the sample from an optical system. information light guide means for guiding the information light to the spectrometer through the fiber optic system; and the above-mentioned different information light is introduced in a state where it is separated in the longitudinal direction of the entrance side slit, and each of the above information lights is separated into spectroscopy. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a spectrometer that emits light in the same state, and a two-dimensional photodetector that detects the respective spectroscopic results.

In Raman analysis, for example, the fiber optic system of the information light guide means is provided in pairs, and is used to correctly transmit each type of information light, which requires maintaining and sorting the plane of polarization. It is preferable to have a means for making the polarization plane of the information light emitted from one fiber optic system of the pair the same as the polarization plane of the information light emitted from the other fiber optical system of the pair. It is preferable to provide the jets so that they are emitted at a 90 degree angle around the center. In order to obtain the necessary information light, a fiber optic system is preferably used as the irradiation means for irradiating the sample with light from the light source. The fiber optic systems of the irradiation means are provided in one-to-one correspondence with each of the fiber optical systems of the information light guiding means, or one for every two in a pair, and the plane of polarization is designated.

[0011] Generally, the fiber optic system of the information light guiding means does not need to be equipped with means for maintaining and sorting the plane of polarization, and it may be sufficient to provide a plurality of them. In this case, the fiber optic system of the irradiation means may be arranged in a one-to-one or two-to-one ratio with respect to the fiber optic system of the information light guiding means, as necessary.
It is provided in correspondence with the above. Furthermore, when information light from another optical system, such as a microscope optical system, is introduced into the information light guide means, the irradiation means can be omitted.

0012

[Operation] Information light entering the spectroscope from the sample is guided through a plurality of fiber optical systems of the information light guiding means, separated into separate spectra, and simultaneously detected by a two-dimensional photodetector. Since the plurality of fiber optic systems that guide this information light can be installed at any desired location on the incident side of the information light, it is possible to simultaneously record information from different desired locations. This makes it possible to simultaneously measure the starting and ending points of the reaction, which are located at different locations.

[0013]

[Embodiment] An embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. In the figure, 10 is a light source, 11 is an optical splitter, 1
2, 13, 14, 15 are fiber optic systems for irradiation, 16 is a sample, 17, 18, 19, 20 are fiber optic systems for information, 2
1 is a spectroscope, and 22 is a two-dimensional photodetector.

Light source 10 is a laser light source in this embodiment. The optical splitter 12 is formed by mirrors 23, 24, 25 and a reflecting mirror 26 with appropriate transmittance and reflectance, and divides the laser light from the light source 10 into four beams of approximately equal intensity. .

The fiber optic systems 12 to 15 for irradiation constitute an irradiation means for irradiating light onto the sample, and each uses an optical fiber of polarization maintaining type or having a polarizing element at the output end. The aforementioned four beams of laser light are introduced into one end of each optical fiber through a condenser lens, and the sample 16 is irradiated from the other end of each optical fiber through, for example, a cell-hoc lens. It is configured so that it can be done.

The information fiber optical systems 17 to 20 are information light guiding means, and similarly to those for irradiation, they use polarization-maintaining optical fibers or optical fibers having a polarizing element on the end face.
Scattered light generated when light is irradiated onto optical fiber 6 is collected from one end of each optical fiber and introduced into the spectrometer 21 from the other end.

On the sample 16 side, fiber optic systems 12 to 15 for irradiation and fiber optic systems 17 to 20 for information collection are installed.
are put together in a one-to-one correspondence with each other on the sample side so that the scattered light caused by the illumination light can be collected for each pair. The light from two of the four emission sections (fiber optical systems 12 and 13) for illumination has a polarization plane with respect to the other two emission sections (fiber optical systems 14 and 15). The emitted light is made to differ by 90 degrees. This plane of polarization is 90
Emitting light of different degrees can be achieved by twisting the optical fiber 90 degrees around the axis and rotationally displacing the emission part side. The information fiber optical systems 17 to 20 are installed such that the polarization planes of information light introduced into the fiber optical systems 17 and 19 differ by 90 degrees from the fiber optical systems 18 and 20. Note that this is a configuration for obtaining data necessary for Raman analysis, and depending on the purpose, the optical fibers shown here may be installed at different locations. Moreover, when polarization information is unnecessary, it can be simplified.

The spectroscope 21 is configured to separately separate each information light beam introduced from an input slit 27 into which the information light beams are introduced, and emit the light beams separately. That is, since there is a one-to-one correspondence between the entrance pupil (slit) and the exit pupil (slit or surface) of the spectrometer 21, the connections between the fiber optics 17 to 20 for each information and the spectrometer 21 are as follows. The ends of each optical fiber are attached in a line along the entrance slit 27 of the spectrometer 21. It is preferable that the attachment state adopts an adjustment structure so that the polarization plane of each optical fiber can be freely adjusted. Then, if necessary, the fiber optic systems 18 and 20 rotate and displace the emission portions of the fiber optics systems 17 and 19 by 90 degrees so that the polarization planes of the introduced information lights are aligned. Spectrometer 2
On the exit side of No. 1, an exit pupil 28 is a large rectangular shape, and a two-dimensional photodetector 22 is provided here. As the two-dimensional photodetector 22, for example, a vidicon, which is a combination of a CCD camera and an image intensifier, is used.

In this spectrometer, for example, the exit portions of the fiber optic systems 12 to 15 for irradiation and the input portions of the fiber optic systems 17 to 20 for information are connected to a desired location on the sample 16, for example.
As shown in FIG. 2, when they are installed and measured all at once, four types of information necessary for Raman analysis can be simultaneously obtained for that part of the sample. That is, for two types of irradiation light whose polarization planes differ by 90 degrees, the polarization plane of information light is 90 degrees.
Four types of information can be obtained on one screen of the two-dimensional photodetector 22, with two types of information having different degrees. Therefore, data necessary for Raman analysis can be obtained at the same time.

Furthermore, in many cases, the diffraction intensity of a spectrometer differs considerably depending on the polarization plane direction. Generally, when measuring the intensity distribution of diffracted light, the polarization component parallel to the grooves of the diffraction grating is strong on the shorter wavelength side than the wavelength of the highest reflectance of the diffraction grating, and conversely, the polarization component parallel to the grooves is strong on the long wavelength side. The polarized component is stronger. Therefore, grating spectrometers also exhibit significant polarization properties. However, since optical fibers do not deteriorate in characteristics even when twisted 90 degrees, the plane of polarization of the information light incident on the spectrometer can be arbitrarily manipulated, and the planes of polarization of the two information fiber optics can be made orthogonal to each other. Even if they are arranged, the plane of polarization can be aligned on the spectrometer side, and the polarization characteristics of the spectrometer can be improved.

In the above embodiment, the irradiation fiber optical system that irradiates the sample and the information fiber optical system that guides the information light are in one-to-one correspondence. As shown in FIG. 4, one fiber optic system 30 for irradiation may be provided with two fiber optic systems 31 and 32 for information. In that case, the light irradiated from the irradiation fiber optic system 30 is selected to have a polarization plane or not, as necessary, and the polarization planes of the incident parts of the information fiber optics systems 31 and 32 differ from each other by 90 degrees. shall be taken as a thing.

In the above embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation, four fiber optics for irradiation and four for information were used to simultaneously obtain four different pieces of information. It is possible to increase the number. This number depends on the configuration of the spectrometer and the performance of the two-dimensional photodetector. In other words, it is determined by the number of information beams that can be introduced independently along the entrance slit with a spectrometer and the range in which each of the spectral results can be separated and detected by a two-dimensional photodetector. By modifying the slit and the exit pupil, it is possible to separately and simultaneously detect more than ten to several dozen information beams, and the number can be further increased with special fabrication or adjustment. is possible.

In the above embodiments, a laser beam is used as an example of the light source, but of course, there is no problem in using other light sources depending on the purpose.

Further, in the above embodiment, a configuration is shown in which the reflected light of the light irradiated onto the sample is collected as information light, but a configuration in which transmitted light is collected as information light may also be used.

Furthermore, by connecting the information light introduction means, spectrometer, and two-dimensional photodetector of the present invention to a microscope optical system of a conventional microphotometer type, a large amount of information can be recorded simultaneously. Become.

[0026] Furthermore, the information light introduction side end of the optical fiber of the information light introduction means or a combination of this and the exit side end of the optical fiber of the irradiation means can be inserted directly into cells or the like, or attached to a gastrocamera. Using methods such as these, it becomes possible to directly collect and analyze in-vivo information. In addition, it becomes possible to know the chemical species in each process of chemical reactions or phase changes in liquids, air, etc.

[0027]

According to the present invention, at least two pieces of information light can be individually guided to one spectrometer to be spectrally separated, and the spectroscopy results can be simultaneously detected by one two-dimensional photodetector, which is better than conventional methods. With one spectrometer, only one piece of data could be obtained in one measurement, but this invention makes it possible to obtain multiple pieces of data at the same time, which not only shortens the time required for measurement, but also It becomes possible to analyze phenomena that change from moment to moment, such as biological samples and reaction phenomena.

Furthermore, by using a fiber optic system as the irradiation means for irradiating the sample with light and the introduction means for introducing the information light into the spectrometer, it is possible to simultaneously obtain four types of data necessary for Raman spectroscopic analysis. become. Therefore, it is not only possible to shorten the measurement time, but also to obtain preferable data even for samples that change over time, which was almost impossible in the past. This will make a significant academic contribution to biological reactions, diagnosis, analysis of affected areas, and elucidation of the correlations between parts of various reaction systems.

Furthermore, by adopting a configuration in which information light is obtained from the microscope optical system in the conventional microscopic photometry method, a plurality of data can be obtained simultaneously.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view showing an example of the arrangement of the sample-side end of the fiber optic system of the irradiation means and information light guide means of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the spectrometer of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an end view showing another example of the arrangement of the sample side end of the fiber optic system of the irradiation means and information light guiding means of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional spectroscopic analyzer.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Light source 11 Optical splitter 12, 13, 14, 15 Fiber optic system 16 for irradiation
Samples 17, 18, 19, 20 Fiber optic system 21 for information light
Spectrometer 22 Two-dimensional photodetector 22, 24, 25 Mirror 26 with appropriate transmittance and reflectance Reflector 27 Entrance slit 28 Exit pupil

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An information light guiding means for guiding reflected light or transmitted light from a sample (hereinafter, reflected light and transmitted light are collectively referred to as information light) to a spectrometer through a plurality of fiber optics systems, and each of the above-mentioned pieces of information. A spectrometer that introduces light divided into the longitudinal direction of the entrance side slit, spectrally separates each, and then outputs each information beam separately, and a two-dimensional light detector that detects the results of each of the above spectroscopy. A spectroscopic analysis device comprising: 2. An irradiation means for irradiating a sample with light guided from a light source through one or more fiber optics, and reflected light or transmitted light from the sample of the irradiated light (hereinafter, reflected light and transmitted light are collectively referred to as information light guide means for guiding information light (hereinafter referred to as information light) through a plurality of fiber optics systems to a spectroscope; 1. A spectroscopic analysis device comprising: a spectrometer that emits information light separately for each of the information beams; and a two-dimensional photodetector that detects the respective spectroscopic results. 3. The spectroscopic analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the fiber optic systems of the information light guiding means are provided in pairs, and a polarizing means selects the plane of polarization to produce separate information lights. The polarization plane of the information light emitted from one fiber optic system of the pair is made to differ by 90 degrees around the optical axis from the polarization plane of the information light emitted from the other fiber optical system. A spectroscopic analysis device characterized in that it is installed to emit light. 4. The spectroscopic analyzer according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a plurality of fiber optic systems of the irradiation means are provided, the plane of polarization is maintained, and form a pair, one of the fiber optics of the pair. The fiber optic system is characterized in that the plane of polarization of the light emitted from one fiber optic system is different from the plane of polarization of light emitted from the other fiber optical system by 90 degrees around the optical axis. A spectroscopic analysis device. 5. Information light guide means connected to one or both of the microscope optical system and other optical systems to guide the information light to the spectroscope through a plurality of fiber optical systems; A spectrometer is installed in a state in which the light beams are arranged in the longitudinal direction, and the light beams are separated into different information beams. A spectroscopic analysis device comprising: [Claim 6] Claim 1, Claim 2, or Claim 4
In the spectroscopic analyzer described in , rotation adjustment means for adjusting the rotational position of either or both of the entrance side end and the exit side end of each fiber optic system of the information light guiding means around the optical axis. A spectroscopic analysis device characterized by being provided with. 7. The spectrometer according to claim 2, wherein the exit side end of the one or more fiber optics of the irradiation means is provided with rotation adjustment means for adjusting the rotational position around the optical axis. A spectroscopic analysis device characterized by: