Elliot Scientific is offering Craic Technologies QD1 2010 UV-VIS-NIR microspectrometer to IT and biological researchers in the UK and Ireland.
The QD1 2010 UV-VIS-NIR incorporates the latest technological advances in optics, spectroscopy and software to deliver a high-performance microspectrophotometer that retains its ease of use.
The expanded measurement range of the QDI 2010 now allows for deep ultraviolet (UV), visible and near-infrared (NIR) transmission, absorbance, reflectance, emission and fluorescence spectra to be captured at the touch of a button while still observing via eyepieces or a high-resolution digital imager.
Sample size can be sub-micron to more than 100 microns.
Measurements are non-destructive and the spectral data is unmatched.
Typical applications for the instrument are found in semiconductor and flat-panel manufacturing, forensic science, photonics and organic chemistry research.
Now, however, the QDI 2010 is being brought to bear on the study of DNA.
X-ray crystallography is commonly used to study DNA structure, requiring the growth of crystals that are stable and free from protein contamination.
Spotting DNA crystals among others using normal microscopy is difficult and measuring their viability impossible, but as DNA readily absorbs light at 260nm UV microscopy can be used to identify a crystal and then qualify it by using its microspectra to measure the DNA concentration.
This procedure saves time by only selecting viable crystals for the next step of a growth procedure.
The QDI 2010 has also found use in computer hard-disk research and production.
To increase capacities, the drive manufacturers are shrinking read/write heads to squeeze more bits out of the exotically coated aluminium platters.
Consequently, trace amounts of organic and inorganic contaminants in components are important to find, but difficult to detect.
Inspection by optical microscope will not show any contamination affecting the product as many are invisible to the naked eye.
Craic Technologies has configured the QDI 2010 to both locate and identify contaminants non-destructively.
The location is done by spectral imaging using ultraviolet microscopy, identification is by the integrated analytical capabilities of UV-VIS-NIR microspectrophotometer.
The QDI 2010 system combines both UV microscopy and microspectroscopy in a single tool.
It can also be upgraded to enable UV, visible and NIR reflectance, transmittance and fluorescence microscopy and microspectroscopy.
