Lecture 5

UV spectrophotometer

CY-101-Physical and Analytical Chemistry (PAC)

Dr. Yasir Faiz

Principal Scientist
Chemistry Division,
Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH),
1
Instrumental designs for UV/visible
photometers or spectrophotometers
• A single-beam instrument
• Radiation from the filter or monochromator passes through either the
reference cell or the sample cell before striking the photodetector
Instrumental designs for UV/visible
photometers or spectrophotometers
• A double-beam-in-space instrument
• In this instrument, radiation from the filter or monochromator is split into
two beams that simultaneously pass through the reference and sample
cells before striking two matched photodetectors.
Instrumental designs for UV/visible
photometers or spectrophotometers
• In double-beam-in-time instrument
• Beam is alternately sent through reference and sample cells before
striking a single photodetector. A period of only a few milliseconds
separates the beams as they pass through the two cells
• In the double-beam-in-time instrument (PTO)
The beams are separated in time by a rotating sector mirror that
directs the entire beam through the reference cell and then through
the sample cell. The pulses of radiation are then recombined by
another mirror that transmits the reference beam and reflects the
sample beam to the detector.

The double-beam-in-time approach is generally preferred over the

double-beam-in-space because of the difficulty in matching two
detectors.
Differences between solid-state photodiodes and
phototubes detectors for electromagnetic radiation
• Phototubes consist of a single photoemissive surface (cathode) and
an anode in an evacuated envelope. They exhibit low dark current,
but have no inherent amplification.
• Solid-state photodiodes are semiconductor pn-junction devices that
respond to incident light by forming electron-hole pairs

Sensitivity of detectors
• Photomultiplier tube > Solid-state detector > Phototubes
 Difference between
Filters and monochromators
• Filters isolate a single band of wavelengths. They provide low
resolution wavelength selection suitable for quantitative work.
• Monochromators produce high resolution for qualitative and
quantitative work. With monochromators, the wavelength can be
varied continuously, whereas this is not possible with filters.
 Difference between
Spectrophotometers and Photometers
• Spectrophotometers have monochromators for multiple wavelength
operation and for procuring spectra while photometers utilize filters
for fixed wavelength operation.
• Spectrophotometers are substantially more complex and more
expensive than photometers.
Monochromators and polychromators
• Both a monochromator and a polychromator use a diffraction grating
to disperse the spectrum
• Monochromator contains only one exit slit and a detector while a
polychromator contains multiple exit slits and detectors.
• A monochromator can be used to monitor one wavelength at a time
while a polychromator can monitor several discrete wavelengths
simultaneously.