Claims
- 1. A spectrometer, comprising:
an infrared source, a cell array including a plurality of walls defining a plurality of cavities, a spectrally selective element, and an infrared spatial detector responsive to infrared radiation travelling from the infrared source through contents of a plurality of the cavities as well as through the spectrally selective element.
- 2. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein the spatial infrared detector is an imaging detector.
- 3. The spectrometer of claim 2 wherein the imaging detector is an imaging array implemented using semiconductor manufacturing techniques.
- 4. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein the wherein a first of the walls is made of a first material, wherein a second of the walls is made of second material, and wherein the first and second materials have significantly different infrared spectral properties.
- 5. The spectrometer of claim 4 further including a gasket between the first and second of the walls.
- 6. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein the cell array includes at least one infrared-transparent wall.
- 7. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein the cell array further includes at least one reflective surface.
- 8. The spectrometer of claim 7 wherein the source and detector are arranged relative to the reflective surface of the cell array such that infrared radiation is reflected from the source to the detector without passing through any of the walls.
- 9. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein the array is made up of separate vessels.
- 10. The spectrometer of claim 1 further including a cover for covering at least one of the cells.
- 11. The spectrometer of claim 10 further including a gasket between the cover and at least the walls defining one of the cells.
- 12. The spectrometer of claim 10 wherein the cover covers all of the cells.
- 13. The spectrometer of claim 10 wherein the at least one of the cells includes a reference substance.
- 14. The spectrometer of claim 10 wherein a plurality of the cells is covered by the cover and wherein the plurality of cells each includes a different reference substance.
- 15. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein the sample vessel is a one-piece element with the cells in rigid relationship with each other.
- 16. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein at least one of the cells includes a reference substance.
- 17. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein a plurality of the cells each includes a different reference substance.
- 18. The spectrometer of claim 1 further including a purging mechanism for purging a space between at least two of the infrared source, the cell array, and the spatial infrared detector.
- 19. The spectrometer of claim 1 further including an actuator for moving the cell array.
- 20. The spectrometer of claim 1 wherein at least one of the cells includes a feed opening.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (e) of U.S. provisional application No. 60/092,769 filed on Jul. 14, 1998 and of U.S. provisional application No. 60/095,800 filed on Aug. 7, 1998 and the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of application No. 09/353,325 filed on Jul. 14, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,112 issued on Nov. 19, 2002, which are all herein incorporated by reference.