Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is an efficient light scattering technique that can be used to determine the vibrational modes of‏ ‏molecules, crystals, amorphous materials, etc. in solid, liquid and gaseous form. It characterizes the ‎structure and bonding configuration through inelastic light scattering during which the incident photon excites/annihilates a vibrational mode of the medium resulting in a scattered photon of different energy. The energy difference of the two photons corresponds to the energy of the excited/annihilated vibration. A Raman measurement is realized through the excitation of the sample with monochromatic light (laser) and the recording of the spectrum of the scattered light in wavelength regions different from the excitation. Nowadays, Raman spectroscopy is utilized in a large variety of applications including medical diagnostics, biophotonics, biology and ‎nanomedicine, environmental protection, quality monitoring, and temperature and internal stress measurements.