HP Labs Technical Reports

Spectrophotometer Calibration and Certification

Beretta, Giordano

HPL-1999-2

Keyword(s): calibration; certification; characterization; qualification; colorimetry; spectrophotometry; metrology; ISO 9000; manufacturing; process control; thermochromism

Abstract: This report describes a verification procedure for spectrophotometers used in process control based on trend analysis. This analysis is more valuable if the instrument's drift is tightly monitored, so it can be unequivocally established that any detected drift is in the process under observation and not in the instrument used for the measurements. The difference to practice in traditional color metrology is that instrument precision is much more important than accuracy. We recommend a much more frequent calibration certification that is usual for spectrophotometers used in color matching applications. To make this feasible the procedure must be very simple and quick to perform; our procedure fulfills this requirement.

80 Pages

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