An apparatus and method for detecting Raman and photoluminescence spectra of a substance and identifying said substance by Raman and / or photoluminescence spectral characteristics of said substance are disclosed. An apparatus comprises a replaceable laser source aggregate with a laser source, a collimating system, a socket for receiving said replaceable laser source aggregate, while ensuring the operation of said apparatus with no further adjustment of a positioning of said collimating system or said laser source, a filtering system, a light dispersing system optimized for a spectral resolution and a spectral range sufficient to simultaneously obtain Raman and photoluminescence spectra of said substance, a detector, and at least one controller for processing electrical signals. The disclosed and claimed method provides for obtaining Raman and photoluminescence spectra of a substance simultaneously, for separating said spectra into components based on Raman and photoluminescence contents, for analyzing said Raman and photoluminescence contents, and for identifying said substance by utilizing a set of spectral processing methods.