Abstract

The design and performance of flow cells and flow cell optics are discussed, with special consideration of the requirements of absorption measuring instruments used as detectors in liquid chromatography. The origins of refractive-index sensitivity and other flow-dependent disturbances and the role of the field and aperture stops in minimizing these effects are described. Equations are derived to show the interaction of optical parameters and flow cell dimensions, and conditions for optimum cell designs are presented. It is shown that under certain conditions, the acceptance of a flow cell varies directly with the square of the volume and inversely with the fourth power of the optical path length. The results of some experimental measurements are presented for various flow cell optical systems, and it is shown that sensitivity to changing refractive index of the solvent can be reduced to a small residual associated with reflection at solvent–window interfaces.

© 1981 Optical Society of America

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