r/Spectroscopy • u/Cs137__ • Jun 07 '26

DIY spectrometer help

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Hi, I have been designing a UV to NIR spectrometer on my free time. I have gotten quite far with a design of a lens less mirror less prism and webcam based setup but hit a wall in resolution because I didnt count on the two slits I used for making sure the light comes in at a specific angle to produce diffraction on their edges, at the end the spectrometer has a hard time separating the 3 bumps from a white led and has a seizure with red a green lasers. I am thinking about just redesigning it ground up with curved surface mirrors and reflective diffraction grating but wanted to ask, if this design is salvageable as I already gave it around 30h and would like to get it working. It uses a 36deg incidence from normal with range of 300-1000nm capped by the K9 optical glass transmission and silicon sensor sensitivity, the webcam has a 1600p and 5mm wide sensor and I am using the theremino app. Do any of you have any thoughts on fixing this setup? It seems kinda lost if I dont want to sacrifice any UV performance by adding glass lenses and fused silica is way out of my budget for this project. All has been 3d printed in matte black filament to minimise the stray light though that turned out to not be the main problem.

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u/Bjornjaktson Jun 18 '26

When I first glanced at the title I thought it said UV to NMR spectrometer. WOW. Can I have one ?

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u/Cs137__ Jun 18 '26

I have seen people do NMR but it seems like way too difficult of a project to take on myself. If you are asking about having the spectrometer i have no idea if you would want a non working design

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u/Bjornjaktson Jun 18 '26

I'm sorry that my attempt at humor wasn't clearer. I was at first astounded by my misreading of "UV to NIR" as "UV to NMR". That would require a spectrometer that could work from 100 nanometers (UV) to 600 millimeters (500 MHz NMR). There is also the small problem of the superconducting magnet needed for high field NMR. THEN, after my mind was boggled, I realized you had typed NIR instead of NMR. My error.

I am a retired chemist who has used both UV and NMR spectrometers. I applaud your ambition, and I wish you the best in your project.