page_title: Near-infrared spectroscopy
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Near-infrared spectroscopy / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Ethanol near IR spectrum. I took this spectrum using an Ocean Optics near IR (NIR-512) temperature-regulated InGaAs detector spectrometer [1] with IR fiber optic light guide. This is a very rough spectrum and should not be used for any kind of quantitative data whatsoever. I took it by shining the light from a halogen lightbulb through a tiny (~20ml) beaker of liquid ethanol (~2cm liquid optical path) and into the fiber optic of the spectrometer (I subtracted the spectrum of the empty beaker before taking this one). The spectrometer was not really intended to be used this way and it is a very sloppy way to take a spectrum! Nonetheless, based on comparing it to simillarly taken spectra of water and methanol (and other professionally traken nir ethanol spectra), with the exception of the region between about 1400 and 1600nm (this region is saturated by very strong absorbance), I think it likely fairly accurately shows real features of the NIR spectrum of this compound.
context_page_description: Near-infrared spectroscopy is a spectroscopic method that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Typical applications include medical and physiological diagnostics and research including blood sugar, pulse oximetry, functional neuroimaging, sports medicine, elite sports training, ergonomics, rehabilitation, neonatal research, brain computer interface, urology, and neurology. There are also applications in other areas as well such as pharmaceutical, food and agrochemical quality control, atmospheric chemistry, combustion research and astronomy.
context_section_description: The discovery of near-infrared energy is ascribed to William Herschel in the 19th century, but the first industrial application began in the 1950s. In the first applications, NIRS was used only as an add-on unit to other optical devices that used other wavelengths such as ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis), or mid-infrared (MIR) spectrometers. In the 1980s, a single-unit, stand-alone NIRS system was made available, but the application of NIRS was focused more on chemical analysis. With the introduction of light-fiber optics in the mid-1980s and the monochromator-detector developments in the early 1990s, NIRS became a more powerful tool for scientific research.
  This optical method can be used in a number of fields of science including physics, physiology, or medicine. It is only in the last few decades that NIRS began to be used as a medical tool for monitoring patients.
caption: Near-infrared spectrum of liquid ethanol.
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