Fourier transform infrared spectrometers: their recent history, current status, and commercial future

Abstract

The commercial FT-IR market has grown to a respectable $8,000,000 annual business area. It is of importance to both the users and suppliers alike that this market continues to solidify its gains and embark into new areas and applications. This paper reviews the evolution of commercial FT-IR in the context of the over-all infrared field. The purpose of the review is to discuss the progress to date and to relate the growth of this field to the future. The future uses of the FT-IR are projected as well as the requirements for new instrumentation.

In Search of Space: Fourier Spectroscopy 1950–1970

“…68 As late as 1978, about one-third of commercial spectrometers were still sold to government. 69 The AFCRL was a major early patron, but was joined by other significant research and development sites in America: the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Houston, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. 70 The Aerospace Corporation, in Los Angeles, also began developing and purchasing Fourier spectrometers in the early 1960s, maintaining informal communications with John Strong and his former students at AFCRL.…”