Absolute calibration techniques for UV spectroscopy based upon platinum emission line spectra

Abstract

Imaging spectrometry requires precise knowledge of wavelength in order to perform various spectral analyses. This thesis project was tasked with performing wavelength calibration as part of the ongoing development of the Naval Postgraduate Schoolαs Lineate Imaging Near Ultraviolet Spectrometer (LINUS). This calibration was necessary for the ability of LINUS to detect, to classify, and to quantify several different chemical species by observation over the near-ultraviolet wavelength band of 200 to 400 nm. Experiments were conducted to detect diffracted emission lines from a platinum hollow cathode lamp by using the LINUS optical train and five different UV filters. A Matlab program was developed to compare the catalogued wavelengths of this known ultraviolet source with the emission line positions observed on the LINUS detector. Affine transformation and cross-correlation of the data produced wavelength calibration curves for the LINUS detector in each of the five associated UV wavelength regions.