We report a high sensitivity, near‐infrared circular dichroism (CD) instrument. CD is measured by the standard modulation method; phase modulation is provided by an Infrasil quartz photoelastic modulator. The spectral range 0.8–3.0 &mgr; is spanned. Incorporation of a superconducting magnet allows magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) measurements to be made. The natural CD of nickel and samarium tartrate complexes and the MCD of a single crystal of Co/MgO at 12 K and 40.6 kG are reported. Performance of the instrument is comparable to visible‐ultraviolet CD instruments.