Container Analysis

Cobalt’s technology is designed to offer rapid and accurate analysis of the contents of packaged goods without opening the containers. Often spectroscopic analysis through packaging is limited by the containers causing obtrusive interference because they are coloured, opaque or have strong spectral signatures. The benefits of our SORS and TRS approaches is that they provide a high quality Raman spectrum of the contents of the containers without needing to know a priori anything about the container material. By intrinsically removing the container signal in a SORS measurement it is possible to identify contents at low concentrations, with improved accuracy, reduced measurement times and with quantitative accuracy.

Applications include:

• Security screening of common containers
• Counterfeit product detection through packaging
• Incoming materials ID through unopened containers

In a SORS measurement containers can be probed from a distance of tens of centimetres. Two simple measurements are taken in seconds in a process that is usually automated and programmable by the user. The measurements are analysed in our software to produce a high-quality Raman spectrum that is independent of interference from the container. Using pattern matching or other analytical software the contents are identified either qualitatively or quantitatively.