Portable Raman Spectrometers: How Small Can They Get?

Portable Raman spectrometers have become smaller over the last 20 years, while their performance has increased. This has been made possible by closer coupling of all the components, use of transmission gratings rather than reflection gratings, and general advances in electronics, displays, and battery technologies. An obvious question to ask is whether this trend can continue. This paper describes the technologies and evolution of these instruments, existing limitations, the current landscape of miniature Raman spectrometers, and the state of the art. Finally, the paper also looks at what emerging technologies could be applied in this area, and how those could lead to new applications