Instrumentation for IR spectroscopy requires a source of infrared radiation and a transducer for detecting the radiation after it passes through the sample. Infrared Sources Most IR sources consist of a solid material that emits radiation when heated by passing a current through the device. The intensity of emitted light typically is greatest at 5900–5000 cm –1 and then decreases steadily to 500 cm –1 . Common examples of IR sources include the Nernst glower (a ceramic rod heated to 1200–2200 K), a globar (a silicon carbide rod heated to 1300–1500 K), an incandescent wire (a nichrome wire heated to approximately 1100 K). Infrared Transducers Because IR radiation has a much lower energy than visible and ultraviolet light, the types of detectors used in UV/Vis spectroscopy are not suitable for recording IR spectra. Most IR detectors measure heat either directly or by a temperature-dependent change in one of its properties. When two different metals, M 1 and M 2 , are connected to each other in a closed loop, forming two M 1 –M 2 junctions, a potential difference exists between the two junctions. The magnitude of this difference in potential depends on the difference in the temperatures of the two junctions. If the temperature of one junction is held constant or, if the source radiation is chopped—see Chapter 9.2 for a discussion of chopping—then the change in temperature of the other junction can be measured. The active junction is usually coated with a dark material to enhance the absorbance of thermal energy, and is small in size. A high-quality thermocouple is sensitive temperature differences as small as 10 –6 K. A bolometer is fashioned from materials for which the resistance is temperature dependent. As is true for a thermocouple, the active part of the detector is coated with a dark material and kept small in size. Triglycerine sulfate, (NH 2 CH 2 COOH) 3 • H 2 SO 4 , TGS, is a crystalline pyroelectric material. It usually is partially deuterated (DTGS) and, perhaps, doped with L -alanine (DLaTGS). The pyroelectric material is placed between two electrodes, one of which is optically transparent to infrared radiation. The absorption of infrared radiation results in a change in temperature and a resulting change in the detector's capacitance and, therefore, the current that flows.