Published in the journal Photoniques n ° 86 – 2017
SPECTROSCOPY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
The smartphone spectrometer
The smartphone revolution has truly enabled the democratization of many advanced technologies, making them accessible to everyone; GPS technology historically reserved for the military is a very good example. It is therefore not surprising that spectroscopy also benefits from the many advantages offered by smartphones.
Spectroscopy is a powerful technique for studying electromagnetic radiation emitted, absorbed or scattered by matter. Since its appearance in the 17th century, the recording and analysis of the different wavelengths composing light have made it possible to describe and understand physical phenomena such as the Fraunhofer lines that were historically interpreted as black bands. separating the colors of the solar spectrum.
During the 20th century, it grew considerably with the advent of electronic sensors, lasers and computers, making spectroscopy an indispensable tool for scientific research. Particularly, UV-visible-near-infrared (NIR) absorption spectroscopy as well as vibrational spectroscopy, such as Fourier Transform spectroscopy or Raman spectroscopy, have become the spearhead of many laboratories but also of many industries. in the fields of pharmacological treatments, chemical formulation, biology and many others.