Perhaps A New Instrument

A critical word needs to be added to the article on new instruments introduced at Pittcon 2014 (C&EN, March 31, page 35). With respect to a near-infrared spectrometer using a digital light processor/multi-mirror array, the article said, “This is the first time such chips have been adapted for use in analytical instrumentation.”

If “commercial” were added before “analytical,” the statement may well be correct. There are at least three U.S. patents (6046808, 6128078, 6392748) by the late William G. Fateley and a paper by his former colleagues T. M. Spudich et al., “Potential for Using a Digital Micromirror Device as a Signal Multiplexer in Visible Spectroscopy,” in which such devices were used in spectroscopic instrumentation (Appl. Spectrosc. 2003, 57, 733). Texas Instruments made the devices that Fateley et al. used, but TI did not originate their use in analytical spectroscopy.

Alexander Scheeline
Urbana, Ill.