Apparatuses, systems, and methods for detecting materials based on Raman spectroscopy

A method for detecting the presence or absence of at least one feature of a Raman signal indicative of the presence or absence of a target in a sample, the method comprising:

• focusing a light beam onto a portion of the sample;
• directing a Raman signal from the portion of the sample to a spectrometer, the spectrometer comprising a plurality of optical elements, comprising an entrance aperture, a collimating element, a volume phase holographic grating, a focusing element, and a detector array;
• wherein
• the entrance aperture is configured to receive a light beam;
• the collimating element is configured to direct the light beam to the volume phase holographic grating;
• the volume phase holographic grating is configured to disperse the light beam over a preselected spectral band of at least 50 nm;
• the focusing element is configured to focus the dispersed light beam to the detector array;
• and
• the plurality of optical elements are configured to transfer the light beam from the entrance aperture to the detector array with an average transfer efficiency from 60% to 98% for first order diffraction with a spectral resolution from 0.1 cm−1 to 5 cm−1 over the preselected spectral band;
• and
• detecting the presence or absence of at least one feature of the Raman signal indicative of the presence or absence of the target in the sample.

A method for performing an analysis on a sample within a cuvette comprising:

• focusing a light beam onto a portion of the sample;
• directing a Raman signal from the portion of the sample to a spectrometer, the spectrometer comprising a plurality of optical elements, comprising an entrance aperture, a collimating element, a volume phase holographic grating, a focusing element, and a detector array;
• wherein
• the entrance aperture is configured to receive a light beam;
• the collimating element is configured to direct the light beam to the volume phase holographic grating;
• the volume phase holographic grating is configured to disperse the light beam over a preselected spectral band of at least 50 nm;
• the focusing element is configured to focus the dispersed light beam to the detector array;
• and
• the plurality of optical elements are configured to transfer the light beam from the entrance aperture to the detector array with an average transfer efficiency from 60% to 98% for first order diffraction with a spectral resolution from 0.1 cm−1 to 5 cm−1 over the preselected spectral band;
• and
• analyzing the Raman signal.