Market Profile: Laboratory FT-Raman

Fourier transform (FT)–Raman spectroscopy is one of two general categories of Raman spectroscopy. Its adoption helped make Raman spectroscopy a commercially viable analytical technique, and it is still widely used. Although it has become somewhat of a niche technique, demand continues to grow.

FT-Raman makes use of a lower powered laser for the excitation source, which is usually a 1,064 nm Nd:YAG laser. The use of this relatively long wavelength source significantly reduces fluorescent interference from highly fluorescent materials, such as biologic and organic samples.

Benchtop FT-Raman demand by industry.

The advent of commercial FT-Raman systems in the late 1980s helped to give birth to the modern Raman spectroscopy market. Major improvements in dispersive Raman technology in the 1990s, many of which came from the telecom industry, helped to make dispersive Raman the dominant benchtop method. However, FT-Raman has been helped by improvements in InGaAs detectors, which do not require cryogenic cooling, in contrast to the liquid nitrogen–cooled Ge detectors that are usually needed to provide higher performance.

The global market for benchtop FT-Raman instruments in 2008 was about $10 million, and it should see low single-digit growth for the foreseeable future due to its use for more routine and bulk sample analyses.

The foregoing data were based on SDi's market analysis and perspectives report entitled Global Assessment Report, 10th Edition: The Laboratory Life Science and Analytical Instrument Industry, September 2008. For more information, contact Stuart Press, Vice President — Strategic Analysis, Strategic Directions International, Inc., 6242 Westchester Parkway, Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90045, (310) 641-4982, fax: (310) 641-8851, www.strategic-directions.com.