Training

Operation of a Raman Spectrometer (Horiba)

Raman spectroscopy is a light scattering technique, and can be thought of in its simplest form as a process where a photon of light interacts with a sample to produce scattered radiation of different wavelengths. It has become an important analytical and research tool. It can be used for applications as wide ranging as pharmaceuticals, forensic science, polymers, thin films, semiconductors and even for the analysis of fullerene structures and carbon nano-materials.

Raman spectroscopy provides information about molecular vibrations that can be used for sample identification and quantitation. The technique involves shining a monochromatic light source (i.e. laser) on a sample and detecting the scattered light. The majority of the scattered light is of the same frequency as the excitation source; this is known as Rayleigh or elastic scattering. A very small amount of the scattered light (ca. 5-10% of the incident light intensity) is shifted in energy from the laser frequency due to interactions between the incident electromagnetic waves and the vibrational energy levels of the molecules in the sample. Plotting the intensity of this "shifted" light versus frequency results in a Raman spectrum of the sample.

References

1. Bhagavantam, S. (November 1971). "Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. 1888-1970". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society (London: Royal Society) 17: 565-592. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1971.0022. JSTOR 769720.
2. Miller, Foil A.; Kauffman, George (1989). "C. V. Raman and the Discovery of the Raman effect". Journal of Chemical Education 66 (10): 795-801. Bibcode 1989JChEd..66..795M. doi:10.1021/ed066p795.
3. Sri Kantha S: The discovery of the Raman Effect and its impact in Biological Sciences. European Spectroscopy News, Aug/Sept. 1988, no.80, 20, 22, 24 & 26.

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Operation manual for the Horiba Raman Spectrometer
Horiba Raman Training Video