The past few weeks have been busy for IS-Instruments (ISI), with our Business Development Manager, Jessica Gabb, attending two major international conferences. Each focused on advancing Raman technologies and their applications within different sectors.
Tritium Users Group (TUG) 2024 – University of Manchester
Jessica, alongside Dr Rhea Sam, participated in the 23rd annual meeting of the Tritium Users Group (TUG), hosted this year by the University of Manchester. TUG provides a focused platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange within the tritium and fusion communities.
At the event, Jessica presented ISI’s gas-phase Raman spectroscopy system, which was developed as part of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Fusion Industry Programme (FIP) project, GRADE. This instrument has been engineered to provide real-time, in-situ monitoring of hydrogen isotopes, including deuterium, and critically, tritium. Notably, the system recently achieved successful tritium detection, indicating its efficacy for future deployment in active fusion research and tritium handling applications.
The gas Raman system operates with fibre-coupled optical access and a ruggedised configuration for deployment in tritium-compatible containment environments. The spectral resolution and sensitivity are optimised for differentiating Q-branch vibrational modes of hydrogen isotopologues, even at sub-atmospheric pressures.
On the second day of TUG, attendees toured Amentum, where ISI exhibited the system and engaged with stakeholders from organisations including UKAEA, Atomic Weapons Establishment, National Physics Laboratory, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, CEA (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique), and Sellafield. Technical discussions centred on the challenges of tritium metrology, system integration in controlled environments, and corrosion linked to tritium isotopic effects. In particular, UKAEA’s Ben Mercer provided an insightful talk on corrosivity mechanisms associated with tritium. This is a key concern for materials compatibility in fusion reactors.
RamanFest 2025 – Frankfurt
Immediately following TUG, Jessica travelled to Frankfurt for the twelfth International Conference on Advanced Applied Raman Spectroscopy, RamanFest 2025. This leading international symposium highlights cutting-edge developments in Raman spectroscopy across scientific and industrial domains. Presentations were invited from world-leading experts and researchers using the Raman technique across life science, materials science, and energy and environmental analysis.
At RamanFest, Jessica delivered a technical presentation on Odin, ISI’s deep ultraviolet (DUV) Raman instrument. This instrument is being used in the Dembio project which aims to identify dementia biomarkers in human serum. Odin operates at an excitation of 228.5 nm. It has been specifically engineered for a high signal-to-noise ratio while mitigating sample degradation, a notorious challenge in DUV Raman analysis due to photobleaching and local heating.
The system integrates either a dynamic sample stage or a closed-loop flow cell. Both configurations limit sample exposure to the laser, significantly reducing photodegradation during exposure. The laser power at the sample is approximately 8 mW, with a total output of 9 mW, which is considered high for DUV systems. This power level enables rapid acquisition while preserving the biochemical integrity of delicate biological samples, crucial for downstream biomarker identification.
Jessica fielded a range of technical questions from attendees on laser spot size, thermal effects, optical throughput, and the software-controlled stage movement. The presentation demonstrated how ISI’s approach enables reproducible Raman spectra from low-concentration serum biomarkers, with potential implications for non-invasive early-stage diagnostics of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia.
With these back-to-back international engagements, ISI continues to showcase its technical innovation and cross-sector relevance, from nuclear fusion fuel monitoring to next-generation medical diagnostics. Our instruments are not only enabling real-world applications today but are paving the way for new possibilities in high-resolution, high-sensitivity Raman analysis.
For further information on how ISI is advancing Raman technologies or to explore collaboration opportunities, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our technical team.
