The infrared spectral region is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that covers from 700 nm to 1,000 µm. Within the infrared, usually three bands can be distinguished: near infrared (NIR, 780 nm – 3 µm), mid-infrared (MIR, 3 µm – 50 µm), and far infrared (FIR, 50 µm – 1,000 µm). There are several types of infrared sources employed by researchers in their experiments, including halogen, LED, SLD, laser and globar sources. In this post, we explain their basic operation, as well as their characteristics and main applications.
