Below are the calibration options we offer. You can always contact one of our support engineers for advice on the best option for your spectrometer and application.
Wavelength Calibrations
All AvaSpec spectrometers come with a wavelength calibration and coefficients, to calculate wavelength based on the pixel number. This information is installed on-board, on the AvaSpec’s EEPROM.
Under normal conditions, the wavelength calibration does not need to be redone, since the spectrometers have no moving elements inside.
If a wavelength shift is measured versus the original wavelength calibration, the spectrometer can be recalibrated by the end-user, using the Avalight-CAL using the auto-calibration software routine in AvaSoft-Full.
As an option the spectrometer can also be returned to Avantes for recalibration, (Spectral-Cal-Service). Before returning the spectrometer, an RMA authorization number needs to be obtained.
Non-Linearity Calibration
Most detectors of the AvaSpec spectrometers have a good linear behavior in their detector response, which means that there is a higher than 95% correlation between raw signal in A/D counts and the light intensity at the spectrometer entrance.
However, for some applications, which require a wide dynamic range, such as highly absorbing substances or low-light-level applications, combined with a need for high accuracy, a non-linearity calibration (NL-Calibration) of the detector is recommended. This NL-Calibration is performed on the detector array, and the output signal is linearized to more than 99%. A complete calibration report and the calculated NL-Calibration coefficients are delivered with the spectrometer. The NL-Calibration is automatically included for irradiance calibrations.
Irradiance Calibration
Applications that use spectrometers to measure the light energy of radiant sources require an irradiance-calibrated spectrometer. We offer NIST-traceable irradiance calibrations for all AvaSpec spectrometers. Irradiance calibrations (µW/cm2) are normally performed on a system with a fiber-optic cable and a cosine corrector or integrating sphere.
The irradiance calibrations can be performed over 3 different wavelength ranges, UV (200-400 nm), VIS (360-1100 nm), and NIR (1100-2400 nm). All systems are calibrated against a NIST-traceable irradiance calibration standard and come with a complete report and calibration files, which are stored on the EEPROM of the spectrometer and can be loaded directly into the AvaSoft-IRRAD software module to obtain irradiance parametric measurements.
As an alternative to Avantes irradiance calibration services, irradiance-calibrated light sources, such as AvaLight-DH-BAL-CAL and AvaLight-HAL-CAL-Mini are available to perform your own irradiance calibration.