background image

Operation 

 

17

file, the software calculated the spectral sensitivity of your spectrometer and shows it as a 
dark green line. To save this new calibration to the device, click ‘‘OK’’. 

If  you  also  want  to  calibrate  the  absolute  scale  of  the  intensity  axis,  you  need  to  take  a 
spectrum and also need to know the absolute optical power (in Watts) of this spectrum. If 
you measure the actual optical power with an optical powermeter, please make sure that 
the powermeter only detects wavelengths that are within the wavelength range of your 
spectrometer  (for  example  by  choosing  a  suitable  light  source).  Then  choose  ‘‘Calibrate 
power’’ from the Tools menu and enter the actual power. If you click ‘‘OK’’, the new power 
calibration  is  stored  in  the  device  and  used  for  scaling  the  intensity  axis.  This  axis  then 
displays the spectral power density in nW/nm. 

In  addition,  you  don’t  have  to  calibrate  the  power  at  the  spectrometer  entrance.  For 
instance,  you  could  calibrate  the  power  that  enters  your  measurement  probe  or  any 
other  power  in  your  setup,  as  long  as  it  is  proportional  to  the  power  that  enters  the 
spectrometer. Just remember that the optical powers and power densities displayed by 
the software refer to this value. 

Summary of Contents for q stick

Page 1: ...User Manual ...

Page 2: ...eme GmbH Product specifications and descriptions in this manual are subject to change without notice RGB Lasersysteme GmbH will not be responsible for errors and omissions in this manual or for direct or incidental damages in connection with the use of this device or information 2012 RGB Lasersysteme GmbH Donaupark 13 93309 Kelheim Germany Telephone 49 9441 1750 33 0 Website http www rgb laser com...

Page 3: ...m Display 8 3 5 Working with spectra 9 3 6 File Operations 10 3 7 Spectrum Analysis 11 3 8 Absorption Reflection and Transmission Measurements 12 3 9 Calibration 14 4 Software Development Kit 18 4 1 Prerequisites 18 4 2 Getting started 18 4 3 Classes Overview 18 4 4 Adding the SDK library to your project 19 4 5 Taking a spectrum 20 4 6 Deploying your project 20 5 Technical Support 21 5 1 Getting H...

Page 4: ......

Page 5: ...tick Hardware Features o Subminiature design o Spectral resolution of 1 2 nm o 2500 pixel CCD sensor o Optical input via SMA fiber o Controlled and powered via USB 2 0 Waves Software Features o Take and display series of spectra o Dynamic exposure control with dark spectrum interpolation o Import most ASCII based file formats o Export as ASCII table to almost any numerical analysis software o Comp...

Page 6: ...equirements o Windows 8 7 Vista or XP 32 or 64 bit o NET Framework Version 3 5 available as a free download o USB 2 0 1 3 Package Contents o Qstick spectrometer o Waves spectroscopy software device driver and this manual as PDF on the USB memory drive included in the device o Printed user manual Visit us at www rgb laser com if you need any accessories for your spectrometer ...

Page 7: ...ebsite for software updates The device driver for the Qstick spectrometer is not fully certified yet If Windows displays a warning please choose to install the driver anyway You can be assured that is does not contain any malicious software The USB port needs to supply an electrical current of 200 mA so you need to either connect the spectrometer directly to your computer or to an externally power...

Page 8: ...tivity correction and the optical power was made with a 200 µm fiber optical cable If you use a different fiber or especially if you just point the spectrometer towards the light source the measured spectrum might not be accurate If you have a calibrated light source you can always recalibrate the spectral sensitivity for any optical setup see chapter 3 9 If you focus the light directly onto the e...

Page 9: ...trometer should show up as Qstick in the Measurement and Control branch If your spectrometer is marked with an exclamation or question mark please remove the device uninstall the software from the Windows Control Panel restart the computer and install the software again If your spectrometer is not listed at all in the Device Manager please try a different USB port If the device does not work on on...

Page 10: ... measurements absorption irradiance scope and so on through a consistent and clear interface o Waves favors a simple self explanatory terminology instead of complicated terms that need to be explained For example we use Exposure time instead of Integration time because the average user doesn t really know what s being integrated here o There are no wizards to help you with complicated tasks becaus...

Page 11: ...tinuous measurement You can increase the exposure time in order to decrease the noise level If the amount of light detected during the exposure is too large for the CCD detector inside the spectrometer the spectrum appears saturated and a red OVERLOAD warning appears at the top of the diagram In this case you need to decrease the exposure time You can further increase the sensitivity by averaging ...

Page 12: ...y The Main Diagram Panel displays all spectra that are marked by a check mark in the Spectrum List If no spectrum is checked in the list then the currently selected spectrum marked by a gray bar is displayed You can check and uncheck all spectra at once by clicking on the corresponding button or on top of the Spectrum List The peaks in the spectra are automatically determined This not only works p...

Page 13: ...eep this spectrum and take another one just click on the single push pin button This prevents the current spectrum from being overwritten A new spectrum you take is then appended to the list Giving the current spectrum a new name also prevents it from being overwritten You can also choose to keep all new spectra by selecting the button with multiple push pins in the Exposure Toolbar When you have ...

Page 14: ...atically determine the file structure and is able to open many different file formats 1 You can print spectra by choosing Print from the file menu If you choose the page orientation as Landscape the spectrum diagram is printed across the whole page If you choose Portrait the diagram is printed on the upper half of the page and the lower half shows selected metadata and values The printing options ...

Page 15: ...point by the average of the surrounding data points You can choose how many data points to include in the averaging This is also known as Boxcar Averaging Arithmetic Operations This creates a new spectrum by adding subtracting multiplying or dividing two spectra Adjust Wavelength This allows to assigns a new wavelength scale to all spectra in the list based on the parameters for the fourth order p...

Page 16: ...perature value are used for the corresponding axis In the Strip Chart diagram the currently selected spectrum is marked by a slightly larger point Points corresponding to spectra that are currently not visible in the main window are drawn in a lighter red color Show Loupe This opens a window with a magnified display of the spectrum around the mouse pointer It may be used in order to study small fe...

Page 17: ...ple for measuring absorption or transmission To take a reference spectrum for reflection spectroscopy you need a white reference sample to calibrate the setup for 100 reflection However all real world reference samples have a reflection of less than 100 and an uneven spectral distribution Therefore for accurate measurements you also need to supply a reference spectrum for your reference sample To ...

Page 18: ...ed if the temperature has changed considerably After you have recalibrated the spectrometer you can always restore the factory calibration in the Device Properties window from the File menu Calibration Accuracy The wavelength calibration is very accurate and changes only little with time or temperature Therefore most users won t ever need to recalibrate the wavelengths The dark spectrum calibratio...

Page 19: ...e in the list you need to supply your own calibration lines In this case please take a look at the CalibrationLines xxx dat files in the installation folder on your hard drive and create a new similar file containing the spectrum lines of your light source After you have selected your light source click on Start Fit The software tries to match the peaks in the measured spectrum and the given spect...

Page 20: ... time With dark spectrum correction green however the noise level should remain pretty much at the same level for exposure times less than 1 second and increase slower for exposure times larger than 1 second If you find this to be the case close the window by clicking on the OK button and the new dark spectrum calibration is saved into the device Otherwise you may calibrate again or click Cancel S...

Page 21: ...he wavelength range of your spectrometer for example by choosing a suitable light source Then choose Calibrate power from the Tools menu and enter the actual power If you click OK the new power calibration is stored in the device and used for scaling the intensity axis This axis then displays the spectral power density in nW nm In addition you don t have to calibrate the power at the spectrometer ...

Page 22: ...nality of the SDK library 4 2 Getting started In order to get familiar with the SDK quickly we suggest to 1 Read the next chapter 4 3 to understand the structure of the SDK library 2 Read the basic steps required in order to take a spectrum chapter 4 5 3 Study the sample projects included in the SDK 4 Add the SDK library to your own project chapter 4 4 5 Implement the basic functionality of taking...

Page 23: ...Studio If you are using one of Microsoft s languages please add both libraries in Visual Studio to your project references in the Solution Explorer window Then import the RgbDriverKit library to your source code files for example in C or C using RgbDriverKit For enhanced IntelliSense support in Visual Studio you may also want to copy the RgbDriverKit xml file into the same folder as the library La...

Page 24: ...he Status property is SpectrometerStatus TakingSpectrum 6 Read the spectrum with the GetData method The full documentation for these methods and properties can be found in the RgbDriverKit documentation chm help file All methods and some properties may throw an exception as described in the SDK documentation help file Always make sure that these exceptions are properly handled by placing these met...

Page 25: ...al Support Team via e mail or telephone 5 2 Software Updates Software Updates are expected to be released about twice a year To check for updates you can choose Check for Updates from the Help menu or go to the Support section on our website www rgb laser com These are some of the features planned for future software releases subject to change o More colorimetry values and options o More options f...

Page 26: ...ector 2500 pixel linear CCD detector A D converter 16 bit 15 MHz Calibration Wavelength sensitivity and multiple dark spectra stored within the device Transfer speed to PC 20 ms per spectrum Digital Interface USB 2 0 Power supply 5 V DC via USB no power adapter required Power consumption typical 200 mA PC operating system Windows 7 Vista XP Mechanical Dimensions 75 8 22 0 10 2 mm Weight 25 g Opera...

Page 27: ...mbH Donaupark 13 93309 Kelheim declares that the following product Qstick Version 1 0 contains no toxic substances which are specified in the RoHS Directive 2002 95 EG The conformity to RoHS Directive 2002 95 EG is confirmed This declaration applies to all models of the above named product version Kelheim 09 06 2012 Mathias Reichl ...

Reviews: