Skolkovo backs new instrumentation development effort

Fourier Photonics, a Russian high-tech developer, has received support from the Skolkovo Foundation to create an operational prototype of an improved interference spectrometer to research into substances

Fourier Photonics, a resident of Skolkovo?s nuclear technology cluster, has received a $140,000 grant from the Skolkovo Foundation to create an operational prototype of an improved interference spectrometer to research into substances, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing a source at the Foundation. Interference spectrometers represent a special class of instruments showing enhanced precision in spectral measurements. They are used in the pharmaceutical and food sectors to identify substances and check the authenticity of drugs. ?A unique and easy-to-use design of the Skolkovo resident?s instrument enables an increase in the spectral range and the speed of measuring compared to existing devices, while dramatically reducing the cost of production. This is expected to make the instrument affordable to a wide variety of customers,? said Igor Karavaev, the cluster?s executive director. In its six-month $180,000 project that starts later this month, the company hopes to complete the development of a prototype for their new Fourier-transform spectrophotometer and test the device...