Slide 1

DELIVERING MICROWAVE SPECTROSCOPY TO THE MASSES: A DESIGN OF A LOW-COST MICROWAVE SPECTROMETER OPERATING IN THE 18-26 GHZ FREQUENCY RANGE Amanda L. Steber and Brooks H. Pate Department of Chemistry, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville,VA 22904

Slide 2

Introduction Goal: Create a spectrometer that the general public can use in a museum exhibit in order to get them interacting with spectroscopy in the context of astrochemistry What considerations have to be made? Size Power consumption Cost Vacuum Durability ParameterCurrent Spectrometers Museum Requirements SizeLargeSmall Power Consumption HighWall source VacuumRigorousStatic CostCan be >$100,000 Minimal