When we looked for a spectrometer for our localized plasmon resonance sensing device, we either had the choice of using an expensive commercial 5000$ spectrometer or building one on on our own. We found many diy photometers but not alot of diy spectrometers. Photometers are far easier to built then a spectrometer, since only one specific wavelength is measured. This specificity though, does make them not as versatiale as spectrometers. For alot of applications like LSPR only spectrometers are applicable. So we decided to built one on our own. We designed our spectrometer in a way that it can be used for other applications, not just LSPR sensing.

At first, we reviewed already available spectrometers. We started with looking into publications on cheap spectrometers^[1]. The biggest problem with these is that they do not give actual construction data and are only result orientated. So we concentrated on open source diy designs. The ramanPi spectrometer caught our eye^[2] and we based our design on it. The greatest upside is, that it was developed open source with a detailed construction documentation.

When we looked for a spectrometer for our localized plasmon resonance sensing device, we either had the choice of using an expensive commercial 5000$ spectrometer or building one on on our own. We found many diy photometers but not alot of diy spectrometers. Photometers are far easier to built then a spectrometer, since only one specific wavelength is measured. This specificity though, does make them not as versatiale as spectrometers. For alot of applications like LSPR only spectrometers are applicable. So we decided to built one on our own. We designed our spectrometer in a way that it can be used for other applications, not just LSPR sensing.

At first, we reviewed already available spectrometers. We started with looking into publications on cheap spectrometers^[1]. The biggest problem with these is that they do not give actual construction data and are only result orientated. So we concentrated on open source diy designs. The ramanPi spectrometer caught our eye^[2] and we based our design on it. The greatest upside is, that it was developed open source with a detailed construction documentation.