Choosing The Most Suitable Laser Wavelength For Your Raman Application

By Ed Biller

By Philip Zhou, B&W Tek, Inc.

Over the years, dispersive Raman spectroscopy has increasingly been implemented for material identification due to its portability and sampling flexibility. When choosing a Raman instrument, one of the primary concerns is the wavelength of the laser that is integrated into the Raman spectrometer system.

Even though the Raman shift of any material is only related to the material’s specific chemical structure and is independent of the excitation wavelength, different wavelengths have their specific strengths and weaknesses. So how does one select a laser excitation wavelength for specific applications? 

There are many different options, but the three most widely used are 532 nm, 785 nm, and 1064 nm. Read the full application note to discover the ideal applications for each.