Patent ID: 7312088

Claim:
Apparatus for use in effecting surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, comprising first and second containment means, said first containment means having a liquid-flow entrance thereinto and an exit therefrom, and containing a known quantity of a reference chemical having an effective surface-enhanced Raman factor; said second containment means containing a surface-enhanced Raman-active medium and having a liquid-flow entrance thereinto, operatively connected to said exit from said first containment means, and an exit therefrom, said second containment means being sufficiently transparent, at least at one optical access location, to permit both the excitation irradiation of, and also the collection of surface-enhanced Raman scattered radiation from, a common field of view of said surface-enhanced Raman-active medium contained therewithin; said apparatus comprising a structure being constructed for effecting intimate mixing, substantially prior to introduction to said surface-enhanced Raman-active medium contained in said second containment means, of said reference chemical with an analyte chemical-containing solution introduced through said entrance into said first containment means.