The Optical Rotatory Dispersion and Linear Dichroism Option of the JASCO J-500 A-Type CD Spectropolarimeter

Abstract

We have made an ORD option for our JASCO J-500 A-type CD spectrometer based on the know-how obtained from the studies of our new polarization-modulation spectrometer. The Mueller matrix approach is used to analyze and evaluate important factors determining the performance of our ORD option. These are (1) the harmonic rejection and “in band” overload capability of the lock-in amplifier, (2) the position of the analyzer's optical axis, (3) the residual static birefringence of the PEM. The capability of our ORD option is equal to that of commercially available ORD spectropolarimeters, in the range from 200 to 700 nm. Furthermore, our option has much faster speed for ORD measurements than does the ORD spectropolarimeter of the null-point detection type. Our ORD option can also be used to measure linear dichroism in high sensitivity.