Chapter 2 Introducing the Mastersizer 3000
Page 2-4 MAN 0474
About the Mastersizer
The Mastersizer is comprised of the main optical unit, one or more dispersion
units and a measurement cell. Commonly, a dispersant such as de-ionised water is
also connected directly to the dispersion unit.
Optical unit
The main optical unit, sometimes referred to as the optical bench or just the instru-
ment, is the core of the Mastersizer system. In its simplest terms, its purpose is to
transmit red laser light and blue light through a sample and then use its detectors to
generate data about the light scattering pattern caused by the particles in the sample.
The data is then interpreted by the Mastersizer application software to provide
accurate particle size information. The blue light used on MS3000 provides
improvements in the measurement resolution below 1 micron in size.
Dispersion units overview
There are two types of dispersion unit: wet and dry. Wet units (Hydro MV/LV/
EV/SM) control the dispersion of a sample suspended within a liquid dispersant.
The function of the dry unit (Aero S) is to ensure that a dry sample is dispersed
and evenly fed to the measurement cell within a continuous stream of air.
Measurement cell
The cell is the interface between the dispersion unit and the optical unit. The sam-
ple is routed between measurement windows in the cell so that the laser can pass
through it in order to make a measurement.
Computer (Mastersizer application software)
At the heart of the system lies the Mastersizer application software, which runs on a
computer. This application controls the optical unit and dispersion unit hardware,
and also processes the raw data gathered by the system, providing flexible data anal-
ysis and reporting features.
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