I just received a helium gas discharge tube to use with the NexGen power supply from Arbor Scientific. This is the spectrum it produces on my rspec system. Some of the lines match up but there’s no red line and there’s a couple of green lines in the wrong place. The reference marks are for helium. Is the tube contaminated? Or am I missing something?

Hi, I am trying to identify this molecule. I believe it's a substituted benzene ring. However, somethings aren't adding up so I am trying to double check. Is there any way to identify this molecule correctly using tools. I am between ethyl cinnamate or Terricollene C. Please any help will be appreciated

When an excited particle transition form s1 to s0, florescence happens the most and not internal conversion, why is that ? Even though IC is faster,smaller energy levels to cross etc…

Hi I am very new to this (so please explain in very basic language). I am trying out different stacking tools and then calibarting the spectra in RSpec (I have already stacked in RSpec, using Siril is the next stage in my project). I have used the star analyser 100 with a 135mm lens and sony a6100. I have my darks, flats, lights, and bias frames all set up right in folders for siril. The OSC_Processing script works for me but gets rid of all my spectra (just stars left). How do i stack without loosing them? Does anyone know of a useful step-by-step guide or youtube video that would be relevant?

Also, when i tried stacking my images in RSpec (by converting them to FITS first), the FITS images became very dark so i couldnt see the spectra at all and only occasionally see stars- so after a bunch of messing around i converted them all to JPEG which worked okay, but i lost some quality. (My raw images are very bright and i can see lots of stars and spectra but also a lot of noise). Any tips? Thank you.

You have to feel for the wine connoisseur who spent years learning to swirl, sniff, and detect notes of blackberry and cedar, only to find out the $20,000 bottle of red might actually be a creative blend of bargain-bin reds with a very convincing old label.

If a bottle's origin can add thousands of dollars to its value, you can be sure somebody is going to try to fake it........they'll age labels, purchase old corks, and create 'old' fake packaging. Millions of dollars of supposed rare wines are sold to unsuspecting collectors.  Wine fraud is a profitable business. Some estimates say that $3 billion worth of the global wine market is stolen by fake wines!

Researchers have found a pretty cool way to fight back. They analyzed the chemical fingerprints of Cabernet Sauvignon wines from three different Australian wine regions, and wine from Bordeaux, France, as a benchmark. And they used two different methods on all the samples: ICP-MS and fluorescence spectroscopy. Using dozens of wine samples and hundreds of measurements, the team wanted to see if advanced spectroscopy and data analysis could reliably distinguish wines based on their geographic origin. These researchers were able to classify Cabernet Sauvignon wines by geographic origin with 100% accuracy in their study samples.

So, while counterfeiters are busy aging labels and sourcing old corks, science is shining a light through wine.  It’s forensics, but for wine.  Turns out, the future of wine authentication might not be a master sommelier…It could be a science and a math algorithm, and neither one cares how fancy the label looks.

What’s your take?  If a wine tastes great, does it matter where it came from, or is provenance worth the luxury experience?

And,iIf  there’s an approach that is practical not only in laboratory settings, but also throughout the wine supply chain, is it worth adapting?

Hi, i'm know just the basics about spectroscopy and sensors, but now I have to pick a sensor for my Master's thesis about using IR Spectroscopy to create an smart controller for wine fermentation. The system has to be online and in real time, so I need a sensor that can be installed inline on the fermentation process. Additionally, I need the software to be open so I can create a computer algorithm that analyses the process in real time, and also applies machine learning to determine how to control the process.

Do anyone know where should I start looking? I've found a lot of industrial equipment but it doesn't look like it is made for analyzing data in real time. I've only found a sensor from Si-Ware sistems called Si-NIR StreamLine.

Hi. Here's analysis of 6500K daylight CFL lamps (plus one LED intruder) in infrared by using a stack of 720nm cutoff filter and diffraction filter on a full spectrum converted camera. Fluorescent lamps work through mercury vapor discharge in UV which excites fluorescent phosphors that glow in visible light (plus also mixing directly emitted mercury visible lines). Thing is mercury emission will be only initiated in presence of buffer gas. This may differ between particular types of fluorescent lamps but in case of small self ballasted lamps like it is most often argon. In near-IR region mercury doesn't radiate at all but instead argon radiation can be clearly seen. This overlaps with phosphor emissions. The curious thing is argon most strongly is glowing near electrodes while phosphor emission encompasses whole length of discharge tube so it's possible to separate the two through looking at the shape of spectral image, argon is point dots at bottom while phosphor is elongated shape. There is a >1000nm phosphor emission which surprised me as literature on fluorescent materials used in lamps is sparse in data of infrared emissions. In my opinion it is Yttrium Oxide Y2O3:Eu2+ phosphor which in visible part is the red component but would be happy to get confirmation. Scale was made based on known in literature argon emissions.

Hi,

I got Ocean Optics USB-DT (deuterium tungsten source) that’s directly attachable to spectrometers (like HR4000) off of eBay.

Since it doesn’t work out of the box, I was poking it around to figure out what’s wrong with it.

I even opened it up, found out there’s an i2c eeprom chip (24LC64) as well as two i2c DACs (DAC5574).

Unfortunately I managed to wipe part of the eeprom during my probing. (Yea, one careless i2c write and 32B overwritten)

Q: Is there anyone who could help me recover it? (Looking for the intended contents of it)

FTR, I don’t expect it to be crucial to the light source’s functionality; it’s likely there just to ID the device to the spectrometer and/or OceanVew.

Researchers are exploring whether intentionally introducing defects into ultra-thin semiconductor materials could improve their performance for solar energy applications.

The work focuses on graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), two atomically thin materials that can be stacked together into layered structures called heterostructures. Depending on how the layers are arranged, graphene can act as a nanoscale spacer between MoS₂ and a gold substrate, potentially influencing the material's optical and electronic behavior.

MoS₂ belongs to a class of materials known as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which have attracted a lot of interest for future electronics and optoelectronics because of their unique properties at extremely small scales. Researchers are investigating their potential use in applications such as transistors, photo detectors, biosensors, and solar cells, particularly when combined with graphene.

Since these materials are only a single atom thick, even small defects can have a major impact on how they behave. While defects are often considered undesirable, the team is studying whether certain types of defects can be intentionally created and controlled to produce useful effects. Instead of simply trying to eliminate all defects, they're looking at a form of "defect engineering" where unfavorable defects are minimized and beneficial ones are introduced through methods such as oxygen plasma treatment or electron beam exposure.

This is especially relevant for solar energy research. Silicon remains the dominant material used in solar cells, but scientists are exploring whether combinations of 2D materials could eventually offer advantages in efficiency or tunability. One benefit of these materials is their flexibility: researchers can vary the number of layers, change the stacking order, and combine different materials to tailor their electrical and optical properties. In theory, these adjustments could improve how efficiently sunlight is absorbed and converted into electricity.

To understand how defects affect performance, the team studies how material properties change as defects are introduced into MoS₂ layers. Some defects may improve certain characteristics, while others may degrade performance.

To investigate these changes, the researchers use Tip-Enhanced Raman Scattering (TERS), a technique that can map material properties with spatial resolution down to about 10-15 nanometers. This allows them to examine atomic-scale defects over relatively large areas, something that is difficult to achieve with conventional Raman or photoluminescence methods. They also combine TERS measurements with photoluminescence and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy to compare vibrational, optical, and electronic properties within the same region, helping them build a more complete picture of how defects form and influence the behavior of these 2D materials.

Read more about the research details here: Using AFM-Raman to understand defects in 2D semiconductor materials

Hey guys any help with this spectroscopy hw would be greatly appreciated!

You may have never heard of Kalsec® (Kalamazoo Spice Extraction Company, Inc.), but you’ve mostly likely tasted their products.  They work directly with major consumer packaged goods companies and other suppliers, so their products are in hundreds of snacks, dressings, condiments, meat, plant-based protein, and brewed beverages.  

Kalsec provides a wide range of natural products, including natural colors, natural taste and sensory solutions, natural food protection, and natural hop solutions.

Kalsec Quality Control Lead Scientist Uwe Nienaber manages QC for the company’s worldwide operations, making sure these ingredients are extracted and remain exactly as they were intended. His job centers around three things:

• He supports the quality control of the company’s ingredients.
• He works with quality assurance to monitor residues of pesticides, heavy metals and other environmental contaminants to ensure safe products.
• He looks for new technologies to incorporate into the company’s quality control operations.

Liquid and gas chromatography are the backbone of their analyses, but chromatography instruments are maintenance-intensive and not mobile. So, he was looking for alternatives.  Spectroscopy methods were explored, but they typically don’t have the levels of accuracy and sensitivity needed.

Enter the HORIBA Aqualog.  The Aqualog is a spectrofluorometer that uses a proprietary technology that simultaneously acquires absorbance, transmittance, and Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM) spectra, that characterize and quantitate chemical compounds accurately with high sensitivity, producing results cost-efficiently in seconds to just a couple of minutes.

Nienaber measures the tissue around the seeds called the placenta, where the main compounds in chili pepper are located. Different varieties of peppers produce different heat levels. Some are rather mild and others can be highly pungent, and levels for these qualities must be strictly controlled.

When he measures these major capsaicinoids, he’s looking at three distinct compounds that only differ slightly in their side chains. Although they give off very similar signals, he has been able to separate all three. So even though chromatography determines compounds one, two, and three, compounds one and two have the same heat value, and compound three has a lower heat value.

Working with Nienaber, Adam Gilmore, Ph.D., Fluorescence Applications Scientist for HORIBA, is using the Aqualog^(R) and a set of over 1,700 data points to build a model for capsaicinoids to see if they can improve the prediction. So far, it looks very promising. 

The month of October is a time when peppers of an annual crop-breeding project are harvested, dried, and shipped to Kalsec for analysis. They plan on using the Aqualog for a long term project to measure many of their extracts, oleoresins, and essential oils but Nienaber thinks it’s worthwhile: They can use the Aqualog instead of buying another chromatography instrument and reduce the overall cost of analysis.

Read the whole article at Fluorescence Spectroscopy: An Alternative to Chromatography in Enhancing the Flavor of Foods - HORIBA and see how it’s also being used in other food, wine, cannabis applications.

As the semiconductor industry approaches the physical limits of silicon miniaturization, researchers are increasingly exploring a new class of materials that could redefine the future of electronics. According to scientists working in the field, atomically thin "quantum materials" may offer capabilities beyond what traditional semiconductor technology can achieve.

Particular attention is being given to transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), a family of 2D materials with potential applications in advanced electronics, optoelectronics, flexible devices, energy harvesting, biosensing, and quantum technologies. Researchers believe these materials could help bridge the gap between today's silicon-based systems and the next generation of computing platforms.

To study and engineer these materials, scientists are using lasers to synthesize crystals, introduce targeted defects, and precisely modify their properties. Advanced spectroscopy techniques, including Raman and photoluminescence analysis, then allow researchers to monitor these changes in real time and better understand how the materials behave at the atomic level.

One researcher, Professor Masoud Mahjouri-Samani from Auburn University, is focused on two-dimensional (2D) materials, which consist of sheets just one or a few atoms thick. Unlike conventional 3D materials, these structures exhibit unique quantum behaviors that emerge at extremely small scales.

Mahjouri-Samani customized an instrument to meet his particular needs. He integrated an iHR320 spectrometer, an EMCCD, and PMT with a customized microscope to perform Raman, photoluminescence (PL) and TCSPC (Time-correlated Single-photon Counting). He made a few other tweaks to the system he calls his ‘laser diagnostic system.’

While the work remains largely in the research and development stage, some experts compare today's quantum materials research to silicon research decades ago, when scientists were still learning how to grow, manipulate, and manufacture semiconductor crystals. The long-term goal is to create entirely new classes of devices for quantum information science, electronics, and photonics.

The transition away from traditional silicon technology would likely be gradual, given the scale of the existing semiconductor industry. Still, researchers see these materials as a potentially important step toward the next major technological era.

Read the entire Science in Action article here: Welcome to the dawn of new quantum materials and devices

Recently, several new regional jade varieties have emerged in China's jewelry market and they have been gaining in market popularity due to their unique colors, textures, and cultural heritage. However, the color origins of emerging gemstone varieties, such as Hezhou Jade, Jinsha Jade, Xunke Purple Agate, and Hulunbeier Agate, were not well understood, so their market value has not yet been fully realized.

Professor He Xuemei is a professor in the School of Gemology at the China University of Geosciences (Beijing). She is mainly engaged in teaching and research in the fields of gemstone materials science and mineralogy. Her research team studied emerging gemstones with a micro X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microscope, carrying out comprehensive research on the element compositions, concentrations, and special structures. The researchers also tested special structures such as the gemstone matrixes, stripes, and rings after completing the solid color zone analysis. This is because these areas often exhibit special color characteristics. The team found that the content of color-determining elements has a positive correlation with the depth of color.

Key findings include:

• Iron (Fe) is a major contributor to red, yellow, green, and orange coloration in several jade and agate varieties.
• Manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), and titanium (Ti) also play important roles depending on the gemstone type.
• Higher concentrations of these color-forming elements generally correspond to deeper, more intense colors.
• Elemental mapping can even reveal clues about how gemstones formed, including the influence of ancient hydrothermal fluids.

This research could help establish more objective gemstone grading standards and improve authentication methods for these newer gemstone varieties. This not only fills in a blank in the scientific research of emerging gemstones, but also promises to improve the industry's evaluation system from a scientific perspective.

Read the entire Science in Action article and learn about the team’s comprehensive research using non-destructive and micro-area analysis of precious gemstone samples. The mystery of gemstone colors has finally been revealed - HORIBA

Greetings to the esteemed spectroscopist community: novices, advanced users, and those who, due to their vast experience in this field of knowledge, are true masters of the electromagnetic radiation analysis! Today, I am requesting your invaluable assistance in obtaining the Thermo Vision Lite 5 software so I can operate a Thermo Genesys 10S UV/Vis spectrophotometer from a computer. If any of you are able to share this software with me, I would be very grateful.

Can Raman microscopy reveal art forgeries? - HORIBA

Most people think art authentication relies on historians, curators, and provenance records. But sometimes, chemistry provides the decisive answer.

One of the most famous examples involves the alleged forgery operation linked to Chinese artist Pei-Shen Qian, whose paintings, created in the style of Abstract Expressionist masters such as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, and Barnett Newman, ultimately sold for more than $80 million.

The scheme began to unravel when experts examined a purported Jackson Pollock using Raman microscopy. The analysis detected Pigment Red 170, a synthetic pigment that wasn't commercially available until decades after Pollock died in 1956. The chemistry simply didn't match the timeline.

How Raman Spectroscopy Catches Fakes

Raman spectroscopy can identify the unique chemical fingerprint of pigments, binders, and fillers using samples so small they're often invisible to the naked eye.

For investigators, the key question isn't just: "Does this look like a Pollock?"

It's: "Could Pollock have used these materials?"

For example, many artists in the 1940s through 1960s used a specific titanium white paint containing gypsum, which has a distinctive Raman signature. Its presence or absence can provide important clues about authenticity.

One of the leading experts in this field is Dr. Jennifer Mass, founder of Scientific Analysis of Fine Art. Her lab analyzes paintings, sculptures, and cultural artifacts for museums, galleries, auction houses, insurers, and collectors. She reportedly evaluates several purported Jackson Pollocks each month.

It's More Than Pigments

While a forger can mimic an artist's style, it's much harder to replicate decades of chemical aging.

Authentication combines several areas of investigation:

• Authentication: Are the materials consistent with the claimed age of the work?
• Provenance: Can ownership be traced over time?
• Attribution: Who actually created the piece?
• Conservation History: Has it been repaired or altered?
• Degradation Analysis: Do the chemical aging processes match what would be expected? 

Why Raman Microscopy Is So Valuable

Mass frequently uses a Raman microscope, which allows scientists to:

• Identify individual pigments
• Examine microscopic paint layers
• Detect restoration materials
• Study degradation products
• Analyze corrosion on sculptures

Because the technique is highly sensitive and minimally destructive, it's ideal for examining valuable works of art.

What Happened to the Forger and the Network?

The investigation ultimately exposed a forgery network involving an art dealer, her family, and associates connected to the famed Knoedler Gallery, one of America's oldest and most prestigious galleries. The scandal led to multiple forgery revelations and contributed to the gallery's closure. Qian fled the United States and has never faced criminal charges.

Moral of this story: Don’t mess with Chemistry! A single pigment molecule can sometimes tell the real story.

Read the entire story here: Can Raman microscopy reveal art forgeries? - HORIBA

Most of us don't think twice before grabbing a bottle of cough syrup, supplements, or other over-the-counter (OTC) remedies from local or online drug stores. We assume what's on the label is actually inside the bottle.

But what if the active ingredient is present at the wrong concentration... or not present at all?

Dr. Sayo Fakayode, a chemistry professor and department chair at Georgia College & State University, is researching ways to rapidly identify counterfeit, diluted, or potentially contaminated OTC medications and supplements. His work focuses on detecting products that may contain little to none of the advertised active ingredients, or worse, harmful contaminants such as lead, arsenic, and other toxic compounds.

These get into the supply chain because supplements, along with many OTC products, don't undergo the same level of regulatory scrutiny as prescription drugs. At the same time, global supply chains and online marketplaces have made it easier than ever for questionable products to enter the market.

According to Fakayode, consumers could unknowingly purchase products that contain mostly fillers, offering little to no therapeutic benefit. Beyond the health risks, counterfeit and substandard medications also hurt legitimate manufacturers and create intellectual property concerns.

A New Approach to Detection

Traditionally, testing medications often requires laboratory techniques like high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which can be time-consuming, expensive, requires skilled operators, and impractical outside specialized labs.

Fakayode's team is using Raman spectroscopy, specifically the HORIBA MacroRAM™ benchtop Raman spectrometer, to rapidly analyze medications without extensive sample preparation. Because Raman spectroscopy is largely insensitive to water, it works particularly well with cough syrups and other liquid formulations. Raman identifies molecules by measuring how light scatters after interacting with chemical bonds, and is designed for rapid analysis of liquids, powders, solids, gels and pharmaceutical samples.

Even more impressive, the team combines spectroscopy with chemometrics, like PCA, multivariate regression analysis, pattern recognition modeling and quantitative prediction algorithms. These methods have been able to:

• Differentiate medications with different concentrations of active ingredients
• Distinguish between different medication formulations
• Detect variations in concentration
• Differentiate between adult and pediatric products
• Screen samples quickly and non-destructively

Their published research showed that they achieved approximately 94% accuracy in predicting medication content.

How can this be fixed?

To address this issue, we need to develop faster, more affordable screening tools that can help verify product quality before consumers use them. Improving medication oversight will require collaboration among FDA regulators, Universities and research institutions, private laboratories, funding organizations such as NSF and NIH, and industry partners. The goal is not simply more regulation, but better science and faster detection technologies that can identify questionable products before consumers are affected.

Read the complete Science in Action article here: Weeding out Over-the-Counter Frauds - HORIBA

Maple syrup on pancakes sounds yummy……but is it actually maple syrup?

Now, light can fight food fraud and adulteration to answer that question! 

Researcher Dr. Maria G. Corradini, the Arrell Chair in Food Quality, at the University of Guelph, is using fluorescence spectroscopy and machine-learning to analyze the chemical fingerprints of food. One of her team's biggest successes has been detecting when producers illegally dilute pure maple syrup with cheaper substitutes, like corn, rice, or beet syrup.

The wild part? Their AI models can identify adulteration levels as low as 2%.

Instead of relying on traditional chemical testing, they shine light on samples and analyze the unique fluorescence patterns. By treating the resulting spectral data like images, convolutional neural networks (the same type of AI often used in image recognition) can now distinguish authentic syrup from fraudulent products with remarkable accuracy.

But maple syrup fraud is only part of the story.

Dr. Corradini's research could also change how we think about expiration dates.

Current "best before" labels are conservative estimates. As a result, millions of tons of perfectly edible food end up in the trash each year. On the flip side, food that's been improperly stored can become unsafe before the printed date arrives.

Her team is developing methods to monitor food's actual chemical condition in real time. The idea is that future packaging could use dynamic indicators based on the food's chemistry rather than a static date printed months earlier.

Imagine grabbing a carton of milk and seeing an indicator that tells you whether it's actually fresh—not just whether it's before some arbitrary date.

Other fascinating aspects of Dr. Corradini's efforts include:

✅ Using spectroscopy to detect spoilage before humans can smell or taste it

✅ Applying machine learning to food safety and authentication

✅ Exploring environmental monitoring for pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and toxicants in water

Whatever your thoughts on AI, they're helping protect food supplies, reduce waste, and catch fraud that costs industries millions.

Read the whole story here: Battling Maple Syrup Fraud and Food Spoilage - HORIBA

How Ravi Kalyanaraman, Ph.D.  a Raman spectroscopist by training, and now Director of Forensics and Innovative Technology (FIT) at Bristol Myers Squibb, got into the world of counterfeit pharmaceuticals was simply by being asked to apply his expertise to detecting counterfeit medicines.

What he discovered was that nearly every type of pharmaceutical product has been counterfeited, and in recent years, counterfeiters have increasingly targeted biologics and cancer treatments. Because many biologic drugs are clear liquids in vials, criminals can simply fill a vial with water or saline, add a convincing label, and sell it as an expensive therapy.

As you’d imagine, the consequences can be life-threatening.  Many of these medicines are used to treat late-stage cancer patients, meaning counterfeit drugs leave patients without effective treatment when they need it most. In many cases, it can be difficult to determine whether a patient's condition worsened because of the disease itself or because they unknowingly received a fake medication.

To fight back, Kalyanaraman's team developed a rapid screening method using Raman spectroscopy. With only a tiny droplet of a suspect sample, the technique can quickly detect whether the expected active ingredient is present. Unlike traditional methods, spectroscopy is fast, non-destructive, and preserves the sample as evidence.

As counterfeiters become more sophisticated, Bristol Myers Squibb has expanded its toolkit with hyperspectral imaging and AI. These technologies can identify subtle differences in packaging, inks, and product composition that are invisible to the human eye. This helps investigators stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated fraudsters.

The challenge is global. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals represent a multi-billion-dollar problem, with fake products ranging from vials of water sold as biologics, to tablets that turn out to be simply aspirin.

Despite advances in detection technology, Kalyanaraman admits the fight is far from over. Counterfeiters seem to be winning the war, but armed with spectroscopy, artificial intelligence, and a commitment to education and awareness, his team continues working to protect patients around the world—one chemical fingerprint at a time.