Ocean Optics has added more triggering functions to its popular USB2000+ miniature spectrometer to provide accurate timing and synchronisation between the spectrometer and other devices. Four low-jitter trigger modes and normal (free-running spectral acquisition) operating modes are now possible. Applications include pulsing a light source to occur when acquiring a spectra and synchronising spectral acquisition to coordinate with samples moving through a process stream or sensors reaching a certain temperature level.
Triggering provides precise timing between devices. The USB2000+ can be triggered so that sending the spectrometer a pulse causes it to do something such as a turn off or on a light, activate a pulse in a pulsed light source or start or end spectral acquisition in the spectrometer. For example, in the USB2000+ external triggering mode, an event outside the sampling system (such as a button push, lever activation or laser) electronically pulses the spectrometer’s trigger pin and starts the acquisition of spectra with microsecond accuracy.
The USB2000+ has an on-board programmable high-speed FPGA controller, 22-pin connector and 8 user-programmable digital I/Os. Available operating modes are normal (spectrometer continuously acquires spectra) and the four trigger modes: external software trigger, external hardware level trigger, external synchronous trigger, and external hardware edge trigger.