PRESS RELEASE
May 31, 1995
French Nuclear Facility To Get
Most Advanced Spectral Analyzer

The world's first optical detector capable of carrying out time-resolved spectroscopy over 58,000 spectral channels simultaneously will be delivered to the French atomic energy authority CEA in this spring. The Saclay facility outside Paris will use the device for spectroscopy of excimer laser-generated plasmas. Stockholm-based NOW Optics AB, which custom-designed the MES 58,000 spectral analyzer for CEA, says it will become part of the firm's standard product range. Spectral analyzers also have applications in such fields as metallurgy, geology, physics, chemistry, meteorology and medicine.

NOW Optics says it is the only manufacturer of spectral analyzers capable of recording simultaneously the range from ultraviolet to near-infrared. "A patented optical design makes it possible to focus a very long spectrum on a very small CCD surface. This eliminates the need for multiple exposures and mechanical movements and increases accuracy," according to the company's marketing director, Christoffer Lindblom.
"In conventional systems, there is always some moving component, such as the grating, which makes them more vulnerable. With MES (Multichannel Echelle Spectrograph), the optical arrangement is always fixed. All corrections, calibrations, etc., are made through the software," he continues. "With moving components, calibration is always less accurate."
The instruments use a combination of CCD detection with a patented optical mounting which includes a so-called Echelle grating. The large wavelength range is achieved by dividing the spectrum into several segments which are focused underneath each other on the CCD sensor. The MES operates just as a camera, exposing the whole spectrum at the opening of an electromechanical shutter. The read-off and operation of the instrument is controlled by a PC.
The new system for the CEA has an image intensifier, which adds the possibility of making time-resolved exposures in ten nanosecond intervals.

Caption:
An image intensifier gives the Special MES 58000 from NOW Optics AB the capability of simultaneously recording 58,000 spectral channels at time-resolved intervals of ten nanoseconds.

For more information contact:
Christoffer Lindblom
NOW Optics AB
Isafjordsgatan 11
S-164 40 Kista
Sweden
Tel: +46 8 751 2015 Fax: +46 8 632 0789