Patent ID: 8305571

Claim:
Spectroscopic apparatus comprising: a light source for illuminating a sample so as to produce therefrom a spectrum of scattered light; a detector for detecting the scattered light; the detector comprising at least one column or row of detector elements each of which accumulate data in accordance with the intensity of light incident thereon, and an output register comprising a row of storage elements for receiving data from the detector elements; and a dispersive device for analysing the spectrum received from the sample and dispersing it along the detector; wherein: the output register is arranged parallel to the direction of dispersion; the apparatus is arranged to move the dispersive device such that the spectrum moves in the direction of dispersion; and the apparatus is also arranged to move the data from one storage element of the output register to the next, so that data for a given wavenumber within spectrum continues to accumulate as it moves through the output register, synchronously with the movement of the spectrum.