Combined optical dispersion by prism and arrayed waveguide grating with multiple diffraction orders for Raman spectrometer

A compact dispersive device for Raman spectrometer was proposed to achieve a spectrum resolution below 0.55 nm in the spectral range of 800 to 1000 nm. A 41-channel arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with eleven different diffraction orders was designed, and each output channel of this AWG contained eleven light signals with periodically 20 nm spaced wavelength. These signals were further cross-dispersed by a prism, and finally form a 41 × 11 spots array on a CCD. The detailed theoretical analysis and simulation of this dispersive device were introduced in this paper. Compared with commercial dispersive modules composed of grating, lens, and mirrors, the proposed structure is able to provide a compact device with higher spectrum resolution, which is attractive for handheld Raman spectrometer.