Portable AOTF Raman Integrated Tunable Sensor (RAMiTS) for chemical and biosensing

This paper describes the development of a compact, self-contained, and portable Raman Integrated Tunable Sensor (RAMiTS) for chemical and biosensing. The RAMiTS consists of a frequency-stabilized diode laser for excitation, an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) for wavelength discrimination, and an avalanche photodiode (APD) for detection. It can provide direct identification and quantitative analysis of chemical and biological samples in a few seconds under field conditions. Instrument control and data acquisition was coordinated by software developed in house using the C language. Evaluation of this instrument was performed by analyzing several model compounds and the high spectral resolution of this instrument was demonstrated by the discrimination of several structurally similar molecules (benzene, toluene and naphthalene) as well as m-, o-, p- isomers of xylene. The potential applications of the RAMiTS coupled with the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for the detection of chemical and biological warfare agents will also be discussed in this paper.

Duke Scholars

Author Tuan Vo-Dinh Biomedical Engineering