A Compact Visible Light Spectrometer for Molecular Detection with Spherical Gold Nanoparticles

Spectrometers are widely used in molecular detection. However most of them are bulky, power consuming, and quite expensive. This work presents the prototype of a compact visible spectrometer alternative that is battery-operated, and designed for autonomous operation and quick spectrum detection. It targets spherical gold nanoparticles spectroscopy, but other applications are possible thanks to a high-precision mechanism to move the sensor, which allows the spectrometer to cover a broad range of wavelengths in the visible spectrum.