Spectral searching, or the use of databases of spectroscopy data for materials identification or research, is used in a broad range of industries, including pharmaceuticals.

Accessing these databases requires a dediated software package, and Thermo Electron says it has updated its own offering with new library data that makes it a one-stop shop for spectroscopists.

The company has added in data from its OMNIC-format spectral libraries to its Spectral ID search program, it says, with the result that spectroscopists can perform wide-ranging spectral searching using a single software application.

By matching the pattern of a specific spectrum to the reference spectra stored in the library, researchers can solve analytical problems quickly and reliably. These can involve quality control issues, chemical structure determination, formulation analyses, etc.

Thermo notes that more than 50 Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FT-IR) and Raman spectra collections are now part of its portfolio, which also includes libraries from Chemical Concepts, John Wiley, and the US National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST). The OMNIC libraries are among the largest collections of FT-IR and Raman reference spectra , according to the company.