Abstract

The essay shows that all passive spectroscopic instruments are interferometers relying on beam division and introduction of delay between beams to analyze spectra. When the number of beams is reduced to the minimum number, two, the energy throughput is a maximum, but Fourier transformation is necessary to translate the primary observations of complicated spectra into meaningful patterns. This step is easily made with modern digital computers, and these have given spectroscopists a windfall. For the first time, since the invention of the photographic plate, spectroscopists can exploit a powerful device which they did not have to invent for themselves.

© 1969 Optical Society of America

Real-Time Fourier Spectroscopy

Joseph E. Hoffman
Appl. Opt. 8(2) 323-327 (1969)

Interferometry and Grating Spectroscopy: an Introductory Survey

Pierre Jacquiont
Appl. Opt. 8(3) 497-499 (1969)

Diffraction Grating Spectroscopy

Fritz Kneubühl
Appl. Opt. 8(3) 505-519 (1969)

A Fourier Transform Spectrometer for the 10–10,000 cm⁻¹ Spectral Region

B. F. Hochheimer and C. F. Bradley
Appl. Opt. 8(3) 557-562 (1969)

The History and Current Status of Fourier Transform Spectroscopy

Ernest V. Loewenstein
Appl. Opt. 5(5) 845-854 (1966)