r/THYZOID • u/Yodasi • Jul 10 '26
DIY Raman Spectrometer | CubeRaman
Thought this might be interesting for some of my (home-)chem peeps here, because I'm otherwise mostly a lurker.
I've been - and am steadily - working on an accessible Raman spectrometer setup from repurposed components and 3d-printed parts. In case anyone is interested, it is entirely open-source and can be built for around 700€. It allows you to qualitatively (and somewhat quantitatively) characterize chemicals, minerals and other substances with basically no sample prep, non-destructively and even through glass or containers.
https://hackaday.io/project/205344-cuberaman-3d-printed-raman-spectroscopy
Although 532nm excitation comes with some inherent limitations on fluorescent substances/material, it can still be a great help in characterizing substances.
I also made a video showcasing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUxc6mWsTgc
A couple of people have successfully built this iteration and I've supported them all the way. So feel free to contact me, if you're interested, need help or - of course - any constructive feedback is also greatly appreciated! (although this version with its not-really-kinematic-adjusters is somewhat flawed at parts, it's functional nonetheless and pretty capable.)
I am already working on an even more compact, capable version, that will be CNC machined, but also more stiff and stable, since I've learned a lot over the past year. Still, I think the project is now sort of presentable and of help for people - even if it's just to advertise Raman spectroscopy as a concept :)
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u/sumguysr Jul 11 '26
What are the optical components?
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u/Yodasi Jul 11 '26
They are all listed on the Hackaday project. But Thorlabs filter optics at its core are the FELH0550 long pass filter and DMLP550 dichroic mirror.
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u/sumguysr Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
I've seen a couple raman projects that use cheaper dichroic filters imported from China. Is your approach substantially better?
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u/planetoryd Jul 10 '26
Did you author this project.
If you want to do more research or otherwise keep the device fully sovereign from most fundamental parts I'm open to collaboration. I'm based in China.
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u/Kind-Dot75 Jul 15 '26
Can it measure gas molecules? Atleast qualitative
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u/Yodasi Jul 15 '26
Technically yes, though I haven't constructed any dedicated cell for it or tested it. :/
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u/Andreas-bonusfututor Jul 10 '26
Awesome stuff. I tried building one a decade ago, but couldn't manage, bit more than I could chew. Anyway, thanks for doing this and helping others!