We have a Nicolet 380 FTIR system with a diamond smart orbit accessory. Before Christmas, the laser burned out so I replaced it and this is working fine now. However, although the interferogram signal (with 1.0 gain) of the FTIR without the smart orbit fitted is ~0.7, one I fit the smart orbit I get an error message saying the signal intensity is below the recommended limit (with gain 1.0 it is ~0.1 compared to the recommended 0.3-9.8).
I don't remember having this problem previously, so I wonder if someone could tell me if this is normal? Also, I notice that the background scans done with and without the smart orbit fitted are different- is this normal, or could this be caused by (or causing) the low signal intensity?
Thanks for your help!
Hi! Try to perform aligning your spectrometer (without smart orbit accessory. Go to Diagnostic tab and click Align). After aligning peak in interferogram has to grow up. Diamond has absorption in the IR region (fig. 1 at http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/print/volume-49/issue-11/features/mid-infrared-optics-cvd-diamond-ir-optics-enable-euv-lithography.html), so when you install diamond smart orbit accessory, interferogram become weaker
Hi Elaina,
As Ruslan stated before it is normal that the transmission is less if you are using ATR accessory due to the crystal used. Did you use the align button in your experiment setup, it might help. However, I think that your source might be old as the signal without the ATR accessory is quite low. It should be around 6-8 V (gain: 1, without accessory).
Best of luck
Thanks all. Yes, we have aligned the spec with and without the accessory in place. Good to know that it is normal for the signal to be lower with the smart orbit in place. The source is still quite new- I think we replaced it 2 years ago.
3 years ago our ZnSe crystal cracked due to internal defect (It has been seen with the naked eye). This led to a very strong intensity losses. We had to buy a new one.
If your crystal has no visible defects and did not unglue from the holder, then it should work normally
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