78 1200 Series DAD and MWD User Manual
5 How to optimize the Detector
A wide slit uses more of the light shining through the flow cell. This gives
lower baseline noise as shown in Figure 32.
However, with a wider slit, the spectrograph’s optical resolution (its ability to
distinguish between different wavelengths) diminishes. Any photodiode
receives light within a range of wavelength determined by the slit width. This
explains why the fine spectral structure of benzene disappears when using a
16-nm wide slit.
Figure 31 Benzene at 1, 4 and 16 nm slit width
Figure 32 Influence of the Slit Width on Baseline Noise
1 nm
16 nm
4 nm
Slit width 1 nm
Slit width 4 nm
Slit width 16 nm