What is Raman Scattering?

Feb 26, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Properties of Light

Raman scattering is an inelastic scattering process that can be used to probe vibrational energy levels. All molecules can vibrate in various ways, but it takes energy to do so. Vibrations have energy levels, just like electrons do. To make molecules vibrate, a...

What is Reflection?

Feb 26, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Properties of Light

What is Diffuse Reflectance? Diffuse reflectance is a measurement technique used to analyze light scattered and reflected from the surface of a sample. Unlike specular reflection, which reflects light in a single direction, diffuse reflectance occurs when light...

What is Scattering?

Feb 26, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Properties of Light

In general, scattering is what happens when light is forced to deviate from a straight path, or forced to deviate from a reflection angle described by the law of reflection. For example, in the X-ray region, atoms can scatter the X-rays in a well defined pattern. This...

What is Transmittance?

Feb 26, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Properties of Light

Transmittance describes how much light passes through a sample unchanged. In other words, it is light that is not absorbed, scattered, or reflected. In most cases, the scattered and/or reflected light is miniscule and not significant. Transmittance is usually measured...

What is Raman Spectroscopy?

Feb 26, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Spectroscopy, StellarNet Definition

What is Raman Spectroscopy? Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive analytical technique used to identify materials and characterize their molecular structure. It works by measuring the small changes in wavelength that occur when laser light interacts with a sample....

What is Absorption Spectroscopy?

Feb 26, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms

The principle of absorption spectroscopy is to measure how much light is absorbed by the sample. As seen in the absorbance entry, this can be accomplished by measuring the intensity of the light before and after the sample. The Beer-Lambert law describes how the...