Yvette Mattley

Melamine is a dangerous substance when it is used to increase the apparent protein content of food. In this article, the use of novel gold nanoparticles for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) measurements with raster orbital scanning sampling is described for the detection of melamine and other food contaminants.

Although Raman spectroscopy is an excellent analytical tool, Raman signals are often weak and traditional slit spectrometers typically have poor optical throughput, limiting their effectiveness in low light level setups.

This tutorial demonstrates that Raman is well-suited to tackle two challenges faced by industry: complex mixtures and isomers.

The authors present a novel technique for obtaining very high stability and reproducibility of a Raman spectrum, using grating corrected laser stabilization. An externally stabilized laser with a grating spectrometer provides exceptional quantum efficiency in the entire dynamic range. These components then are used to build a library of pharmaceutical raw materials and tested on samples of unknown material.