New instrument for FT-thermal emission decay spectroscopy

The new instrument combines the step-scanning Fourier transform technique w ith Opto-Thermal Transient Emission Radiometry (OTTER) in order to provide depth resolved infrared emission spectra in a non-contact way for samples o f arbitrary shape and size and without any prior preparation of the sample. The optical system of the instrument is a Michelson interferometer using c ube corners instead of plane mirrors. The instrument will be used for skin measurements including transdermal drug diffusion, skin surface lipid compo sition, metabolites associated with externally applied chemicals and skin d isease diagnosis. The first preliminary data are shown.