Nicolet Avatar FTIR
| The Avatar FTIR is currently used in CHEM 322, Instrumental Analysis, and CHEM 475, Inorganic Chemistry I, as well as in undergraduate research. The instrument is controlled using Nicolet’s OMNIC software, currently run under Windows 95. The software is accompanied by a tutorial and is fairly intuitive, enough so that a student can become comfortable running the instrument in a very short time. |  |
Inside the Avatar Sample Chamber:
| The instrument itself uses a Michelson interferometer combined with a KBr beamsplitter to modulate the signal produced by the infrared source. This energy is directed through the sample chamber, in a direction moving from right to left, as shown by the yellow arrow in the figure.Upon leaving the sample chamber, the beam impinges on a DGTS infrared detector, and the signal is collected, stored and demodulated to produce an FTIR spectrum.Although we commonly use the IR to collect liquid and solution samples using a thin-layer liquid cell, and solid samples using KBr pellets, the instrument has the resolution needed to be used in gas-phase studies as well. |  |