Tiny Peaks vs Mega Backgrounds: A General Spectroscopic Method with Applications in Resonant Raman Scattering and Atmospheric Absorptions

A simple method using standard spectrometers with charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors is described to routinely measure background-corrected spectra in situations where the signal is composed of weak spectral features (such as Raman peaks or absorption lines) engulfed in a much stronger (by as much as 105) broad background. The principle of the method is to subtract the dominant fixed-structure noise and obtain a shot-noise limited spectrum. The final noise level can therefore be reduced as desired by sufficient integration time. The method requires multiple shifts of the diffraction gratings to extract the pixel-dependent noise structure, which is then used as a flat-field correction. An original peak-retrieval procedure is proposed, demonstrating accurate determination of peak lineshapes and linewidths and robustness on practical examples where conventional methods would not be applicable. Examples are discussed to illustrate the potential of the technique to perform routine resonant Raman measurements of fluorescent dyes with high quantum yield, using conventional Raman systems. The method can equally be applied to other situations where small features are masked by a broad overwhelming background. An explicit example is given with the measurement of weak absorption lines in atmospheric gases.