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 PAPER
Phys. Educ. 57 (2022) 065012 (11pp) iopscience.org/ped

A do-it-yourself
Czerny–Turner
spectrometer: atomic
emission, absorption,
reflection and
fluorescence spectroscopy
in natural sciences
Mattis Osterheider1, Bjoern Bourdon1,
Rasmus Boettcher1, Marco Beeken2 and Mirco Imlau1,∗
1
Department of Physics, University of Osnabrueck, Barbarastrasse 7, D-49076
Osnabrueck, Germany
2
Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Osnabrueck, Barbarastrasse 13,
Osnabrueck, D-49076, Germany

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract
Spectrometers play a decisive role in the education of A-level and/or
under-graduate students in the field of natural sciences. They are capable to
demonstrate atomic emission, transmission, reflection and fluorescence
spectra, but can be used for wavelength filtering, as well. Here, we present a
do-it-yourself spectrometer setup based on a Czerny–Turner design that (a)
can be used for all measurement types with one and the same setup and (b) is
capable to spectrally resolve atomic emission lines. We use LEGO® bricks
for the optomechanical construction and combine it with affordable, but
high-quality optical components and linear array based on a charge-coupled
device (CCD). A modular design is implemented and allows for a quick

∗
Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.

Original Content from this work may be used

under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work
must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the
work, journal citation and DOI.

1361-6552/22/065012+11$33.00 1 © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd

M Osterheider et al
change between the various measurement techniques, but also fosters the technological
understanding of the underlying systems’ optical design.

Keywords: UV–VIS spectroscopy, Do-it-Yourself, undergraduate, A-level, natural sciences,

high resolution, modular

1. Introduction and preparation. It is thus very well suited for edu-

Optical spectroscopy is an indispensable topic in cational purposes.
scientific education for A-level and undergraduate
students. On the one hand, the quantum theoret-
ical principles of light–matter-interaction [1] can 2. Basic optical design in the context of
be experienced by means of atom line emission teaching
and absorption. On the other hand, a proper know- The features of our system (cf figure 1(a)) are
ledge about the information that can be derived achieved by an optical design based on a Czerny–
from the spectra of molecules and solid states [2] Turner (C–T) spectrograph [22], which is dis-
can be learned and is a mandatory prerequisite for tinguished by self-correction of optical imaging
starting-up in life sciences, physics, chemistry and errors. In addition, only a few optical compon-
many further research fields including cross- and ents are required: a set of confocal mirrors (CM1,
interdisciplinary activities. CM2), a reflective diffraction grating (RG) and
The pedagogical benefit of teaching the prin- an entrance slit (ES). Detection is realized by
ciples of modern spectroscopy by utilizing simple a CCD line-array or a projection screen. An
and modular photometers or spectral photometers LED serves as light source (LS) for transmis-
has been reported, before [3–5]. Accordingly, a sion, reflection and fluorescent measurements (cf
multitude of hands-on-experiments can be found figures 1(a)–(d)).
in literature, most of them as do-it-yourself (DIY) The optical design of the C–T spectrograph
setups with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at low may be the topic of a first teaching unit in spec-
and moderate costs [3–19]. Some of the setups use troscopy. Following the light path, topics of fun-
digital or cell phone cameras for spectral detec- damental optics are revisited: light passing the
tion [3, 5–7, 10, 11, 15, 18–21]. Most of them entrance slit ES (→ diffraction at a single slit)
are developed for a specific application and meas- is collimated via the first confocal mirror CM1
urement technique. The major weakness of these (→ lens equations) onto a reflective diffraction
setups, however, is their limited spectral resolu- grating RG (→ Bragg condition of gratings). The
tion. It limits the amount of information that can angular distribution of the diffracted light repres-
be derived from absorption and/or emission lines ents the spectral components of the incident light
and may prevent first research experiences of stu- (→ dispersion of light), is collected by the second
dents. Moreover, there is a risk that the basic prin- confocal mirror CM2 and finally projected into the
ciples of optical spectroscopy may remain unex- image plane (→ imaging optics). Here, the spec-
plored, i.e. the pedagogical benefit may not occur. tral components are spatially separated from each
We here introduce a DIY optical setup that other (→ spectral resolution), so that the signal
(a) addresses the aspect of high-resolution spec- intensity as a function of photon energy (→ spec-
troscopy, (b) can be applied for studies in dif- trum), can be inspected by eye using a projection
ferent spectral windows at different spectral res- screen or electronically using a linear sensor array
olutions and (c) can be used either as atomic (CCD). Demand lessons may focus on the beam
line emission, absorption, reflection or fluores- paths of the two confocal mirrors that are mirror-
cence spectrometer with one and the same sys- symmetric to each other in order to correct for
tem. Remarkably, the setup still is by about a optical errors (in particular for astigmatism related
factor of ten less expensive compared with com- with the small tilt in the respective beam paths). A
mercial spectrometers of equivalent specifications second teaching lesson may address the relation
and can be operated without in-depth instruction between spectral resolution and parameters of the

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 A do-it-yourself Czerny–Turner spectrometer

Figure 1. (a) Scheme of the DIY Czerny–Turner spectrograph for atomic emission spectroscopy: LS: light source
(e.g. mercury vapour lamp); ES: entrance slit; CM1, 2: confocal mirrors; RG: reflective diffraction grating. The
dashed line marks the lightproofed housing. (b) Setup change for transmission (C: sample cuvette), (c) reflection
(FC: optical fibre coupling, F: optical fibre, RS: reflective sample), and (d) fluorescence measurements.

optical components, such as its inverse depend- module with a Toshiba sensor array (type 1304)
ence on the width of the ES. The impact of doub- and obeys a USB serial port for direct connec-
ling the focal length of CM1 and CM2 on the spec- tion to a computer as well as a plug-and-play soft-
tral resolution, as well as the role of light intensity ware for live view of the pixel values [24]. Note,
on the CCD line array are well suited for a jigsaw that the Toshiba sensor is a standard in profes-
classroom. sional high-end spectrometers. The costs of the
DIY C–T spectrograph accumulates to a max-
imum of about 500 Euros. Costs can be consid-
3. Assembly and components of the setup erably reduced if students bring together most of
the LEGO® bricks.
Figure 2 shows a photograph of the major optical
An end-to-end instruction with a detailed part
unit of the DIY C–T spectrometer. The mechan-
lists of the LEGO® bricks is available open online,
ical structures of all components are built from
free of charge [25] (license: Creative Common
commercial LEGO® bricks. The entire setup is
4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)) and was sketched using the
mounted onto a LEGO® baseplate (alternatively,
open source software LDraw [26] and LPub3D
an optical breadboard [23] is used if the spec-
[27] (Hardback edition: [28]).
trometer has to be portable). Further components
used are listed in table 1.
The confocal mirrors are purchased from 4. Classroom experiences
a professional supplier of optical components,
while the reflective diffraction grating is prepared 4.1. Atom emission spectroscopy
from a commercial compact disc (CD). It features A key application of the spectrometer is the
>85% reflectivity and groove distance accuracy application of the Bohr–Einstein frequency-
(groove distance d = 1.6 µm, 625 lines mm−1 ) relation for an optical transition in an atomic
for the spectrometer. The ES is realized by two system
razor blades at adjustable distance (µm range).
The CCD detector is based on a line scan camera ∆E = E2 − E1 = hν = EPhoton (1)

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M Osterheider et al

Figure 2. Photograph of the (a) major optical unit of the DIY Czerny–Turner spectrometer build from LEGO®
bricks. The entrance slit is on the bottom right, the two confocal mirrors on the left and the CCD line array on the
upper right (cf marks). (b) A close up of the entrance slit with adjustments for transmission measurements, (c) a
close up of fibre coupling for reflection measurements and (d) a close up of the entrance slit with adjustments for
fluorescence measurements.
Table 1. Optical and electronic components used in the spectrometer in reference to the online shops:
www.amazon.de; www.thorlabs.de; www.eureca-messtechnik.de; www.conrad.de.
Component Article Distributor Article number/ASIN

ES Platinum razor blade Amazon B07KMKNHBR

CM1 1 Dielectric concave mirror Thorlabs Ltd CM254-200-E02
400–750 nm, f = 200 mm
CM2 2 Dielectric concave mirror Thorlabs Ltd CM508-200-E02
400–750 nm, f = 200 mm
RG Intenso compact disc-RW 700 MB Amazon B000BV7AWE
CCD Line scan camera module EURECA Messtechnik e9u-LSMD-TCD-1304-STD
GmbH

using the spectrum of a 60 W mercury vapour line at about 546 nm that is used to determine the
light bulb (setup depicted in figure 1(b)). Here, full line width at the half value of the peak max-
EPhoton the photon energy of the incident light imum (FWHM). The comparison with literature
of frequency ν, h the Planck constant, and E1,2 data (cf table 2) acts as starting point for a joint
are two discrete energetic levels of the Hg atom discussion of the students about measurement
with energy distance ∆E. For this purpose, the errors, error sources, and ways for optimizing
ES is narrowed to achieve the best possible spec- the spectrometers precision. In a demand lesson
tral resolution. Figure 3 shows a typical line spec- (optional) a more precise calibration routine can
trum detected with the spectrometer and a CD as be discussed based on a polynom function of third
reflective diffraction grating. order. The data of figure 3 reveal a wavelength
A possible task for the students is to allocate spacing (∆λ/pixel) of (0.06 ± 0.01) nm/pixel.
the individual emission lines with atomic trans- Note that the inaccuracy of the peak position for
itions of Hg as published in the literature and the emission line at approx. 404 nm is by a factor
to calibrate the CCD line array, i.e. to assign a of approx. 10 larger compared to the other peak
wavelength to each detector pixel. The inset of position uncertainties. The reason for this is that
figure 3 depicts the magnified atomic Hg emission only a small wavelength range (in this case centred

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 A do-it-yourself Czerny–Turner spectrometer

Figure 3. Atomic emission spectrum of a mercury vapour lamp as measured with the DIY Czerny–Turner spectro-
meter. Data points (blue), literature peak positions of atomic emissions (red). Inset: magnified peak of the emission
line at 546.0735 nm (literature value, entrance slit approx. 80 µm). Gaussian fit to the data (black dotted line).
Table 2. Literature values of mercury emission line peak positions [29] in comparison to the determined peak
positions and FWHM with their respective measurement errors.
Peak position: Peak position:
literature (nm) measured (nm) FWHM (nm)

404.6563 (404.74 ± 0.12) (0.56 ± 0.29)

435.8328 (435.41 ± 0.02) (0.86 ± 0.05)
546.0735 (546.02 ± 0.01) (0.98 ± 0.01)
576.9598 (576.93 ± 0.01) (0.76 ± 0.21)
579.0663 (579.05 ± 0.01) (0.61 ± 0.22)

at 580 nm) can be sharply imaged due to the grat- grating, e.g. a blaze grating (article number GR25-
ing properties in particular its curvature. As a 1205, Thorlabs Inc.), it becomes possible to fur-
consequence, the chromatic aberration increases ther increase the spectral resolution and especially
with increasing distance to this wavelength. This the signal sensitivity.
aberration in combination with a small peak amp-
litude leads to a higher uncertainty in the fit and
subsequently in the emission line peak position. 4.2. Transmission, reflection and
Note, that the DIY C–T spectrometer reveals fluorescence spectroscopy
a spectral resolution by a factor of at least 15 Figure 4 shows the measurement results obtained
higher in comparison with previously reported for determining (a) the transmission spectrum of
self-made spectrometers (typically ranging from potassium permanganate KMnO4 (part (a) and
approx. 15–37 nm [6]). By utilizing a different (b)), (b) the fluorescence spectrum of fluorescein

November 2022 5 P hy s . E d u c . 5 7 ( 2 0 2 2 ) 0 6 5 0 1 2
M Osterheider et al

Figure 4. Classroom examples of the spectrometer. Top left: absorption spectra of potassium permanganate at a
concentration of 80 ppm using the DIY Czerny–Turner spectrometer before (blue data points) and after (green data
points) correction for the nonlinear signal response of the CCD sensor. For comparison, the spectrum measured
with a high-end spectrometer (Shimadzu UV-3600, red data points) is plotted. Top right: absorbance as a function
of concentration at 525 nm as being determined from the spectra of a series of potassium permanganate solutions.
The calculated concentration of the unknown sample is marked with dotted lines. Bottom left: normalized emission
spectra of fluorescein under exposure to UV light using a CD grating (blue) or blaze grating (red). Bottom right:
reflection spectra of different coloured LEGO® bricks (blue, green, yellow and red).

and (c) the reflectance spectra of four differ- concentrations in the range of 0, 10–200 ppm and
ently coloured LEGO® bricks with the DIY C–T fill it into a cuvette. A white light LED (cf. table 3)
spectrometer—all of them possible in the frame- is used for illumination according to figure 2(b).
work of teaching lessons. For the individual meas- They start to measure the transmitted intensity
urements, the spectrometer setup was rebuild and spectrum of purified water I0 (λ) using the solu-
experimentally prepared within less than 5 min tion with c = 0 ppm. Then, the transmitted spec-
in each case, i.e. it can be rebuild in the breaks tra It (λ) are measured for each concentration and
between teaching lessons. All three measurements the spectral absorbance α(λ) is determined using
are directly related with applications as described Lambert–Beer’s-law:
in the following.
It (λ) = I0 (λ) · exp − (α(λ) · d). (2)

4.2.1. Transmission spectroscopy. The KMnO4 Here, d is the sample thickness along the dir-
transmission spectrum (figure 4 (top left)), shown ection of light propagation. Parallel to the ana-
for a concentration c = 80 ppm) is used in analyt- lysis, the students may be motivated to discuss
ical chemistry courses to learn how an unknown about the normalization procedure based on I0 (λ)
concentration of a solution can be revealed. with the goal to understand that losses by cuvette
For this purpose, the students prepare a series and solvent are removed. Now, the absorbance
of KMnO4 solutions in purified water with is plotted as a function of concentration for a

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 A do-it-yourself Czerny–Turner spectrometer
Table 3. Components for transmission measurement in reference to the online shops: www.carlroth.com;
www.conrad.com.
Component Article Distributor Article number/ASIN

C One use cuvette PMMA, Carl Roth GmbH + Co. KG Y196.1

Makro 2.5–4.5 ml
LS 2 TRU COMPONENTS Conrad Electronics SE 1573733
LED white d = 5 mm,
5000 mcd

Table 4. Components for fluorescent measurement in reference to the online shops: www.carlroth.com;
www.conrad.com.
Component Article Distributor Article number/ASIN

C One use cuvette PMMA, Carl Roth GmbH + Co. Y196.1

Makro 2.5–4.5 ml KG
UV-LS 2 TRU COMPONENTS Conrad Electronics SE 1573733
LED white d = 5 mm,
5000 mcd

selected wavelength (preferred at one of the max- excitation is required as additional step in emis-
ima of the spectra, e.g. 525 nm), as depicted in sion spectroscopy. A topic for demand lessons
figure 4 (top right). A linear fit serves as calibra- is the conclusion of a lower photon energy of
tion function for the determination of a KMnO4 the emitted light in comparison with the excita-
solution prepared by another group of students tion light that results in a major emission peak at
with unknown concentration. about 535 nm.
Figure 4 (top left) also shows a spectrum of Measuring fluorescence with a spectrometer
the DIY C–T spectrometer after correction for also proofs to be more challenging than the
the nonlinear response of the CCD line array. measurement of a transmission spectrum from
For comparison, the spectrum of the same sample the experimental viewpoint. The reason is that
determined with a high-end spectrometer (type the light emitted by the fluorescein solution is
UV-3600 from Shimadzu) is plotted. weak due to a low conversion efficiency (≪1)
of excitation and emission as well as due to dif-
fusive emission. Figure 4 (bottom left) therefore
4.2.2. Fluorescence spectroscopy. Figure 4 shows the fluorescence spectrum of the fluores-
(bottom left) shows the emission spectrum of a cein solution using two different reflective diffrac-
fluorescein solution (0.02% in purified water) that tion gratings: (a) the CD (blue data points) and (b)
was determined using the principle setup depicted a blaze grating (red data point, blaze wavelength
in figure 1(d). As for transmission measurements, λB = 500 nm, 300 lines mm−1 , Thorlabs Inc. art-
the solution needs to be illuminated. In this case, icle number: GR25-0305). The latter reveals the
however, an ultraviolet LS build of three 375 nm fluorescein spectrum in full accordance with lit-
UV LEDs is used and the direction of exposure is erature [30–32]. Note, that spectrum with the CD
orthogonal to the ES (cf. table 4). also reflects the majority of fluorescein emission
An accompanying teaching lesson may features but shows a small dip at about 550 nm,
address the difference between absorption and that is a result of the absorption characteristics of
(spontaneous) emission according to Einstein’s the re-recordable CD itself. Students may study
principle of light–matter interaction. As a res- the relation of this dip to the grating by measuring
ult the students shall find-out the idea behind the same spectrum subsequently with CDs from
increasing the light power, choosing UV light and different distributors (also read-once, read-many,
changing the direction of light propagation, i.e. read-write media shall be compared).

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M Osterheider et al
Table 5. Components for reflection measurement in reference to the online shops: www.bricklink.com;
www.amazon.com; www.conrad.com.
Component Article Distributor Article number/ASIN

FC Fibre optical coupler (‘Spaltersatz’) Bricklink See [25] for article numbers
F iVANKY optical cable, Toslink Amazon IVANKY-OC01
cable, 1.8 m optical audio cable
LS 2 TRU COMPONENTS LED Conrad Electronics SE 1573733
white d = 5 mm, 5000 mcd

4.2.3. Reflection spectroscopy. Figure 4 (bot- the setup profits from the mechanical precision of
tom right) depicts the result of reflection spectra the LEGO® bricks as a result of the superior com-
recorded for four LEGO® bricks of different col- petence of LEGO® systems A/S in the injection
our. Here, the ES of the spectrometer is exchanged moulding technology. In the classroom, the use
by a fibre optical (cf. table 5) coupler equipped of LEGO® bricks is a major motivation factor for
with an optical fibre (figure 1(c)) to enable spec- students, but the teaching lesson also profits from
tral detection at an angle according to the law the distributed knowledge in mechanical building
of reflection. The white light LED is again used with LEGO® .
to illuminate the LEGO® bricks (45◦ angle of Another important feature for classroom
incidence). applications is its quick and easy modularity, i.e.
A reference spectrum P(λ)reference is recorded to the possibility to use the DIY C–T spectrometer
using a white LEGO® brick, so that the reflectance for emission line, transmission, fluorescence and
R(λ) can be calculated for the measured spec- reflection spectroscopy. Thus, the setup is either
tra Psample (λ) of each coloured brick using the well matched with the teachers’ needs and bound-
relation [33]: ary conditions of the day-to-day business, in par-
ticular taking short (minute-range) lesson pre-
P(λ)sample
R(λ) = . (3) paration times into account. In addition, it turns
P(λ)reference out that the modularity also opens-up applica-
The results can be used in the classroom to discuss tions in rather different courses, disciplines and
the possibility of automatic detection of plastic topics, ranging from physics, chemistry, biology,
of different types in the context of waste separa- life sciences and related cross- and interdiscip-
tion, recycling, environment protection and micro linary topics. Here, the direct link with many
plastics—one of the major applications of spec- state-of-the-art socio-economic applications shall
troscopy in these fields. be added besides the precision of fit with the
curricula of modern natural sciences. But also
the fact that one and the same system can be
5. Conclusion and summary used by different teachers is not insignificant
We can conclude that it is possible to construct a considering joined knowledge in handling and
DIY C–T spectrometer that matches the demands maintenance.
of classroom teaching in natural sciences and Finally, the low price of the DIY C–T design
features a spectral resolution and sensitivity for is striking for the application in many schools,
atomic line emission spectroscopy using LEGO® thus, securing the hands-on experience of many
bricks. The spectrometer thus represents another students (world-wide) in spectroscopy.
example of optics/photonics instruments/setups To sum up, the presented DIY C–T spectro-
that can be realized with this approach and extends meter has the potential of becoming a workhorse
the series of educational setups from Michelson- in schools for the natural sciences. It combines
interferometer [23], holographic recording setup modularity, high spectral resolution and sensitiv-
[34], optical tweezer [25], laser powermeter [35] ity, supports students’ motivation, matches with
up to an intra-cavity, frequency-doubled Nd:YAG the teachers’ needs, while remaining affordable to
laser system [25]. From the technical viewpoint, a large number of educational institutions.

November 2022 8 P hy s . E d u c . 5 7 ( 2 0 2 2 ) 0 6 5 0 1 2
 A do-it-yourself Czerny–Turner spectrometer

Data availability statement to the forensic analysis of dyes J. Chem.

Educ. 96 1143–51
The data that support the findings of this study
[5] Scheeline A 2010 Teaching, learning and using
are available upon reasonable request from the spectroscopy with commercial, off-the-shelf
authors. technology Appl. Spectrosc. 64 256A–268A
[6] Grasse E K, Torcasio M H and Smith A W 2016
Teaching UV–Vis spectroscopy with a
3D-printable smartphone spectrophotometer
Acknowledgments J. Chem. Educ. 93 146–51
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with Karsten Sengebusch and Juergen Beckers spectrophotometry by constructing a simple,
(Eureca Messtechnik GmbH), and Volker Bom- low-cost, functional spectrophotometer
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verlag.de). [8] Vanderveen J R, Martin B and Ooms K J 2013
Developing tools for undergraduate
spectroscopy: an inexpensive visible light
Funding spectrometer J. Chem. Educ. 90 894–9
[9] Knagge K and Raftery D 2002 Construction and
This work was funded by the German Federal
evaluation of a LEGO spectrophotometer for
Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) student use Chem. Educ. 7 371–5
within the funding program ‘Photonics Research [10] Yu H, Tan Y and Cunningham B T 2014
Germany’ with Contract Number 13N15230 (pro- Smartphone fluorescence spectroscopy Anal.
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[11] Albert D R, Todt M A and Davis H F 2012 A
ence and culture (MWK) of lower saxonary within
low-cost quantitative absorption
the funding program ‘InnoPlus’. The authors are spectrophotometer J. Chem. Educ.
responsible for the contents of this publication. 89 1432–5
[12] Pokrzywnicka M, Koncki R and Tymecki Ł 2010
A concept of dual optical detection using
ORCID iDs three light emitting diodes Talanta
82 422–5
Mattis Osterheider  https://orcid.org/0000- [13] Asheim J, Kvittingen E V, Kvittingen L and
0001-6121-0210 Verley R 2014 A simple, small-scale LEGO
Bjoern Bourdon  https://orcid.org/0000-0002- colorimeter with a light-emitting diode
4559-4522 (LED) used as detector J. Chem. Educ.
Mirco Imlau  https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 91 1037–9
[14] Wang J J, Núñez J R R, Maxwell E J and
5343-5636 Algar W R 2016 Build your own
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Received 24 March 2022, in final form 27 July 2022 introduce analytical instrumentation
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https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/ac8a85
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Phys. 61 792–7 started his PhD in the Department
[23] Klompmaker S, Lager F, Bourdon B and Imlau of Didactics of Chemistry at the
M 2019 Interferometer zum Selberbauen University of Osnabrück before
(Bonn: Bombini Verlags GmbH) changing the PhD subject to ultrafast
[24] Eureca 2021 Consulting and supply of OEM physics in April 2021. In addition to
components (available at: www.eureca.de/ his work at the university, he works as
1524-0-Zeilenkameras-von-Eureca.html) a chemistry teacher at an Osnabrück
(Accessed June 2021) high school.
[25] Imlau Research Group 2021 Myphotonics
(available at: www.myphotonics.eu/)
(Accessed June 2021) Björn Bourdon studied physics at
[26] LDraw.org 2021 An LDraw™ editor for LEGO® the University of Osnabrück from
style digital building instructions (available 2011-2016. Since his PhD in 2020
at: www.ldraw.org/) (Accessed June 2021) in the research group ‘Ultrafast
[27] Sandy T 2021 Lpub3d (available at: https:// Physics’ of Prof. Dr. Mirco Imlau,
he completes his postdoc phase as
trevorsandy.github.io/lpub3d/) (Accessed
project leader in the BMBF-funded
June 2021)
project ‘optocubes’.
[28] Osterheider M, Böttcher R, Bourdon B and
Imlau M 2021 Atomspektren Selber Messen
(Bonn: Bombini Verlags GmbH)
[29] NIST 2021 Strong lines of mercury (Hg)
(available at: https://physics.nist.gov/Phys Rasmus Böttcher studied mathem-
RefData/Handbook/Tables/mercury atics and physics at the University of
table2.htm) (Accessed June 2021) Osnabrück for the teaching profession
[30] Klonis N and Sawyer W H 1996 Spectral at grammar schools. Following his
properties of the prototropic forms of studies, he completed his traineeship
fluorescein in aqueous solution at the Studienseminar Braunschweig.
J. Fluorescence 6 147–57 He is currently a teacher of physics
[31] Sjöback R, Nygren J and Kubista M 1995 and mathematics at a high school in
Absorption and fluorescence properties of Braunschweig.
fluorescein Spectrochim. Acta A 51 L7–L21

November 2022 10 P hy s . E d u c . 5 7 ( 2 0 2 2 ) 0 6 5 0 1 2
 A do-it-yourself Czerny–Turner spectrometer

Mirco Imlau studied physics at the Marco Beeken studied chemistry and
University of Cologne, wrote his biology for the Gymnasiumlehramt
doctoral thesis on the interaction of in Oldenburg. After his doctorate
laser light with crystalline solid-state in 2010 in the research group of
materials, and from 2002 specialized Ilka Parchmann at the University
in the physics of (ultra-)short laser of Oldenburg, he worked as a teacher
pulses within the framework of a in Rhauderfehn and Cloppenburg
junior professorship. He then held after his traineeship in Wildeshausen.
professorships at the University of Since 2018 he is professor for
Vienna and Université de Lorraine chemistry didactics at the University
before being appointed Professor of Osnabrück.
of Experimental Physics at the
University of Osnabrück in 2008.

November 2022 11 P hy s . E d u c . 5 7 ( 2 0 2 2 ) 0 6 5 0 1 2