Standoff spatial heterodyne Raman spectrometer for mineralogical analysis

Raman spectroscopy is ideally suited for planetary exploration because of its ability to unambiguously identify minerals, organic compounds, and biomarkers. Traditionally, Raman spectra were acquired with grating‐based dispersive spectrometers that require tens of micrometer‐sized entrance slits and thus limited light throughput. Recently, we have evaluated a new type of Fourier transform Raman spectrometer, the spatial heterodyne Raman spectrometer that provides high spectral resolution in a compact system without limiting light throughput. In this work, we present time‐resolved Raman spectra of carbonate, sulfate, and silicate minerals, including low Raman scattering efficiency olivine and feldspar minerals, in the 100–1260 cm −1 Raman fingerprint region with spatial heterodyne Raman spectrometer using 1.5‐cm‐diameter pulsed 532.078‐nm Nd:YAG laser beam. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.