Patent ID: 7903252

Claim:
A spectrophotometry system comprising: an interferometer for receiving, from a light source, a source light beam and introducing interference effects thereto; a sealed housing for receiving, from the interferometer, the source light beam having the interference effects; an optical system within the housing for splitting the source light beam having the interference effects into a reference beam and a sample beam and for directing the reference beam and the sample beam in separate paths; a reference compartment within the housing, said reference compartment including a reference for interacting with the reference beam wherein said interacting yields an output reference beam having a direction; a reference light detector for detecting at least a portion of the output reference beam based on the direction of the output reference beam and generating a reference signal representative of the detected light; a sample compartment within the housing, said sample compartment including a sample for interacting with the sample beam wherein said interacting yields an output sample beam having a direction; a sample light detector for detecting at least a portion of the output sample beam based on the direction of the output sample beam and generating a sample signal representative of the detected light; a detector circuit for producing a reference voltage proportional to the reference signal and a difference voltage proportional to the difference between the reference signal and the sample signal; and a processor configured to determine a spectrum of the sample based on the difference voltage, wherein said processor is configured to generate an interferogram from the difference voltage and to calculate a Fourier Transform of the interferogram, said spectrum being a function of the Fourier Transform of the interferogram.