Prism spectrometer

Due to the nature of a dispersive element the angle with which light is refracted depends on its wavelength.

Optical gratings are less expensive, provide much higher resolution, and are easier to calibrate, due to their linear diffraction dependency.

A prism spectrometer may be used to determine the composition of a material from its emitted spectral lines.

A prism spectrometer may be used to measure the refractive index of a material if the wavelengths of the light used are known.

The calibration of a prism spectrometer is carried out with known spectral lines from vapor lamps or laser light.