Abstract:
AN F/1 SPECTROMETER HAS ENTRANCE AND EXIT SLITS, EACH TEN MILLIMETERS HIGH AND FIFTY MICRONS WIDE, WHICH ARE PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER AND SPACED THREE MILLIMETERS APART. A PARABOLIC COLLIMATING MIRROR OF THIRTY CENTIMETERS FOCAL LENGTH REFLECTS LIGHT FROM THE ENTRANCE SLIT ONTO A DISPENSING MOSAIC OF NINE GRATINGS EACH RUILED WITH 1200 GROOVES PER MILLIMETER. THE GRATINGS ARE MOUNTED ON THREE PARALLEL AXES AND A DRIVE LINKAGE ROTATES ALL THE GRATINGS SIMULTANEOUSLY THROUGH EQUAL ANGLES. THE MIDDLE GRATING HAS AN APERTURE THROUGH WHICH LIGHT PASSES BETWEEN THE ENTRANCE AND EXIT SLITS AND THE COLLIMATING MIRROR. BEHIND THE EXIT SLIT IS MOUNTED AN ELLIPTICAL REFLECTOR THAT HAS FOCAL POINTS SPACED FIFTY EIGHT MILLIMETERS APART ALONG AN AXIS AT AN ANGLE OF 34* 40'' TO THE PLANE OF THE ENTRANCE-EXIT SLIT OPTICS FOR CONCENTRATING LIGHT PASSING THROUGH THE EXIT SLIT ON A PHOTOMULTIPLIER.
Abstract:
A STEPPING-MOTOR (OF THE TYPE WHICH MOVES IN A SERIES OF DISCRETE SMALL INCREMENTS) DRIVES THE DISPERSIVE ELEMENT OF AN OPTICAL MONOCHROMATOR, FOR EXAMPLE, THROUGH A VARIABLE GEAR REDUCTION TRANSMISSION ROTATING A CAMWHICH IN TURN ANGULARLY MOVES A LEVER ARM RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO, SAY, A DIFFRACTION GRATING. THE STEPPING-MOTOR MAY BE MOVED AT VARIOUS CONTINUOUS RATES BY SUPPLYING A SERIES OF EVENLY SPACED (IN TIME) PULSES AT ANY PARTICULAR DESIRED RATE. ALTERNATELY, BY PROVIDING A "BURST" OR "TRAIN" OF A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF CLOSELY SPACED PULSES, THE STEPPING-MOTOR (AND THE ELEMENTS DRIVEN THEREBY) MAY BE RAPIDLY INDEXED TO A DESIRED SPECIFIC POSITION. ANOTHER INSTRUMENT OR COMPONENT OF THE SAME INSTRUMENT, SUCH AS THE CHART RECORDER OR OTHER READOUT MAY BE READILY SYCHRONIZED WITH THE MONOCHROMATOR STEPPING-MOTOR, BY UTILIZING AS ITS DRIVE A SECOND STEPPING-MOTOR, FED FROM THE SAME PULSE SOURCE.