A ceramic reference in conjunction with a spectrometer, a metallized ceramic
material,
and a method of utilizing a ceramic material as a reference in the ultraviolet,
visible, near-infrared, or infrared spectral regions are presented. The preferred
embodiments utilize a ceramic reference material to diffusely reflect incident
source light toward a detector element for quantification in a reproducible fashion.
Alternative embodiments metallize either the incident surface or back surface of
to form a surface diffuse reflectance standard. Optional wavelength reference layers
or protective layers may be added to the ceramic or to the metallized layer. The
reference ceramic is used to provide a measure of optical signal of an analyzer
as a function of the analyzers spatial, temporal, and environmental state.