For Raman spectroscopy, a "cheap" notch filter won't even work. a 0.5" long pass filter made for Raman can easily cost $2000. When you have a $2000 filter, you have to use temperature stabilized laser, otherwise the laser wavelength shifts, thus, spectrum shifts. Grating and concave mirror can also cost a fortune.
Also, Raman typically is very weak, roughly 10^-6 of the laser intensity. The CCD/CMOS has to be low dark count.
The things is, if you have spent $5000 on components, why should you save couple hundreds of dollar on good optical mounts?
This 3D printed plastic base/structure will never have good stability and precision for any serious scientific application.
Nonsense, you can run a perfectly good student lab with a cheap notch filter and pull a usable spectra off something like polystyrene or Tylenol. What I'm wondering is if this thing could even do that. Looking at the abuse the diffraction grating has taken suggests the answer is no.
As far as a decent scientific bench instrument goes, we're mostly in agreement. I'd love to know if you could make a decent optomechanic system like this on a SLS with a metal substrate.
Also, Raman typically is very weak, roughly 10^-6 of the laser intensity. The CCD/CMOS has to be low dark count.
The things is, if you have spent $5000 on components, why should you save couple hundreds of dollar on good optical mounts?
This 3D printed plastic base/structure will never have good stability and precision for any serious scientific application.