  A way to fully exploit the large collecting area of modern 8-10m class
telescopes is high resolution spectroscopy. Many astrophysical problems from
planetary science to cosmology benefit from spectroscopic observations at the
highest resolution currently achievable and would benefit from even higher
resolutions. Indeed in the era of 8-10m class telescopes no longer the
telescope collecting area but the size of the beam - which is related to the
maximum size in which reflection gratings are manufactured - is what mainly
limits the resolution. A resolution-slit product Rphi ~ 40,000 is the maximum
currently provided by a beam of 20 cm illuminating the largest grating mosaics.
We present a conceptual design for a spectrograph with Rphi ~ 80,000, i.e.
twice as large as that of existing instruments. Examples of the possible
exploitation of such a high Rphi value, including spectropolarimetry and very
high resolution (R ~ 300,000), are discussed in detail. The new concept is
illustrated through the specific case of a high resolution spectropolarimeter
for the Large Binocular Telescope.
