Thorlabs HG10 Holographic Grating Spectrometer

Thorlabs has released the HG10 Holographic Grating Spectrometer — a fibre-based, high-speed spectrometer that provides sub-nanometre resolution in the optical range of 810 to 965 nm. Custom spectrometers with detection ranges from 500 to 1000 nm are available on request.

With an acquisition speed of up to 130 kHz, USB 3.0 connection, external synchronisation options via a TTL trigger input and rigid design, the spectrometer is suitable for stable and rapid spectrum acquisition. It is based on the ones used in Thorlabs’ turnkey Ganymede series of optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging systems and has been designed to support easy integration into laboratory set-ups.

The included software contains built-in tools for simple and complex analysis, including controls for adjusting sensitivity and resolution, a wavelength meter tool for narrowband sources and a coherence length tool for broadband sources. Apodisation functions, which are used to account for the finite path length over which the spectrum is measured, are also available.

The ThorSpectra GUI can be used to view the spectra as it is being acquired. Raw data can be exported as is or with user-selected processing applied, including wavelength calibration, interpolation onto an evenly spaced wavelength grid or relative amplitude correction. For OCT data acquisition, software development kits (SDKs) in several languages are included.