The IDES System—An Image Dissector Echelle Spectrometer System for Spectrochemical Analysis

Abstract

The image dissector echelle spectrometer system consists of a stigmatic, coma-compensated echelle spectrograph with high resolution and high dispersion, an image dissector tube with specially designed focusing and deflection coils and a minicomputer with 16K memory. The whole spectral range, i.e., from 200 to 800 nm, is focused on the photocathode of the image tube in 91 spectral segments (spectral orders). The measurement of the spectrum, involving wavelength selection and intensity measuring through single-photon counting, is performed by the computer. The standard software contains programs for focusing, wavelength calibration, scanning, and spectrochemical analysis. IDES is a multipurpose and multielement spectrometer which can be adapted for any application in analytical spectroscopy by utilizing the appropriate software program. The fields of application of the IDES system are: emission from combustion and electrical flames; dc arcs; hollow cathodes and glow discharges; atomic absorption; and fluorescence with line and continuous light sources.