Fast low frequency (down to 10 cm(-1)) multichannel Raman spectroscopy using an iodine vapor filter.

We have constructed a multi-channel Raman spectrometer that is capable of recording the low frequency region down to 5 cm(-1) with a measurement time of a few tenths of a second. An iodine vapor filter, which uses a narrow (approximately 0.03 cm(-1)) absorption line of iodine for Rayleigh scattering elimination, is combined with a multi-channel Raman spectrometer composed of a single polychromator and a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. Thanks to the high Rayleigh scattering elimination efficiency of the filter, which is over 10(6), Raman spectra of microcrystalline L-cystine from -300 cm(-1) to 1000 cm(-1) are simultaneously measurable with a small gap of 10 cm(-1) (-5 cm(-1) to 5 cm(-1)). Although raw spectra contain many sharp spikes due to the fine structures of iodine absorption, they can be correctly compensated with the use of a transmittance spectrum measured under the same experimental conditions. Many Raman bands including the 9.8 cm(-1) band are measured with a high signal-to-noise ratio in both the Stokes and anti-Stokes sides with a measurement time as short as 0.2 s.