Patent ID: 7804064

Claim:
A self-tuning spectrometer comprising a system for in-situ droplet monitoring, the system comprising: a laser light delivery system for delivering at least two laser pulses to at least one of droplets, particles and aerosol; a detector for capturing a scattering of the laser pulses from the at least one of droplets, particles and aerosol; an image acquisition unit for receiving and processing data from the detector; and a system controller for synchronizing the laser delivery system and the detector, whereby the scattering of the laser pulses from the at least one of droplets, particles and aerosol is processed to monitor properties of the at least one of droplets, particles and aerosol; wherein operating parameters of at least one of (1) the self-tuning spectrometer, (2) a source of the at least one of droplets, particles and aerosol and (3) a plasma source or a high temperature source are optimized based on the monitored properties of the at least one of droplets, particles and aerosol.