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Ensure switch on the back of the FTIR is ON (not the switch on top)
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Ensure BioRad USB is plugged into the back of the computer
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If FTIR is not on, turn it on and wait 15 minutes for the machine to warm up
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If BioRad USB is missing contact Dr. Harding
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Turn on the computer monitor and computer tower
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Flip the switch on the front of the FTIR to ON
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The green LED next to the "resume" and "bot" text should light up. The "laser" LED should light up about 15 seconds after turning on
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Open the Spectrum Management program by double clicking the icon on the desktop
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If FTIR has been idle for a while the program may not open. Fix this by turning the FTIR switch on front OFF then back ON
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Double click the Spectra Measurement icon on the left column
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Carefully open the lid of the FTIR and twist the black knob counterclockwise and rotate it away from the sample surface
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Squirt Isopropyl Alcohol onto several kimwipes and lightly wipe the sample surface and the positioning arm tip
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Close the lid of the FTIR (sample should not be in at this point)
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Locate the B icon with the red arrow and click on it
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Background scan will be run that takes about 2 mins and will produce a graph
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Open the blue lid again and lightly place your sample onto the sample surface
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Rotate the positioning arm clockwise until it is over the sample
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Twist the black knob clock wise until it touches the sample surface ( you will feel a gentle click)
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Close the lid of the FTIR
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Click the "S" icon with the red arrow through it on the tool bar
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Wait for 30 seconds for the scan to be taken, a new graph will replace the old graph
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A flashing icon depicting a light blue graph will appear on the task bar, click on this icon to open the Spectrum Analysis program
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Click on the wizard hat icon on the top tool bar on the right and the IR scan will be displayed in the "Know-It-All" software
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Move over from the "IR Spectrum" tab to the "Databases" tab within the Search Parameters window
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Under the "Databases" tab, click on the + icon next to the "Reference-Licensed" option and select "all"
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On the left middle of the of the screen click on the "Add All" button and the four material categories will be moved to the "Selected for Searching" window
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Click the "Search" button at the bottom right of the screen
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Your graph will appear in black in the "MineIt" tool of the software while the orange graph will be the IR scan of the reference material
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Select different reference materials in the bottom window to overlay onto your sample spectra
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The similarity between your sample and the reference sample is given a Hit Quality Index (HQI) score
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The higher the HQI score, the greater the similarity between the two spectra with the maximum score being 999
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The Y-axis can be changed from % Absorbance to % Transmittance by clicking the view tab
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The spectra can be overlaid, offset, or stacked by clicking on the icons on the toolbar at the top of the "MineIt" window
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Take a screenshot of the sample by clicking on the "Snipping Tool" on the bottom toolbar of windows (scissor icon)
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Save the screenshot onto a USB drive and exit out of the snipping tool window
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Open the lid of the FTIR and remove the sample from the FTIR by reversing the steps of placing it in
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Wipe down the sample surface and the bottom tip of the positioning arm again with isopropyl alcohol on the Kimwipes
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Exit out of all the software programs
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Turn the power switch on the top of the FTIR to "OFF"
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Ensure that you exit the software before turning off the FTIR
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