Ocean Optics Introduces Low-cost, General-purpose Spectrometer

Ideal for Budget-strapped Labs

Dunedin, Florida (September 2006) – The Red Tide Spectrometer from Ocean Optics is a low-cost, small-footprint lab spectrometer that’s ideal as a general-purpose instrument for budget-conscious teaching and research labs.

Despite its low starting price, the Red Tide offers performance comparable to more costly systems: spectral response from 350-1000 nm, an order-sorting filter to eliminate second-order effects, and integration times as fast as 3 milliseconds.

The Red Tide’s modular design can be configured with various Ocean Optics optical bench accessories, light sources and sampling optics, to create application-specific systems for thousands of absorbance, reflection and emission applications. With its small footprint (89.1 mm x 63.3 mm) and convenient USB interface, Red Tide is a great tool for basic lab measurements.

The Red Tide interfaces to PCs via its USB port, which streamlines start-up and supports hot swapping of the spectrometer. It also interfaces to Pasco’s Xplorer GLX, a unique combination of datalogger and lab analysis tool that eliminates the need for a PC. (The Xplorer GLX is available from Ocean Optics or Pasco. Visit Pasco's web site for details.)

Red Tide operates via SpectraSuite Spectroscopy Software, the first spectroscopy operating software to run in Macintosh, Linux and Windows. A special version of SpectraSuite is available with a module for educational use, with features such as a Beer’s Law calculator for absorbance experiments.

Ocean Optics is a leading supplier of solutions for optical sensing - fundamental methods of measuring and interpreting the interaction of light with matter. Since 1989, Ocean Optics has developed an extensive line of complementary technologies including chemical sensors, analytical instrumentation, optical fibers, thin films and optics.