Question

What is Raman Spectroscopy? what are its applications? what are the advances in this field? with references.

Answer 1

Raman spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique used to observe vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in a system. Raman spectroscopy is commonly used in chemistry to provide a structural fingerprint by which molecules can be identified.

Raman spectroscopy is used in many varied fields – in fact, any application where non-destructive, microscopic, chemical analysis and imaging is required. Whether the goal is qualitative or quantitative data, Raman analysis can provide key information easily and quickly. It can be used to rapidly characterize the chemical composition and structure of a sample, whether solid, liquid, gas, gel, slurry or powder.

Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics

Compound distribution in tablets

Blend uniformity

High throughput screening

API concentration

Powder content and purity

Raw material verification

Polymorphic forms

Crystallinity

Contaminant identification

Combinatorial chemistry

In vivo analysis and skin depth profiling

Geology and Mineralogy

Gemstone and mineral identification

Fluid inclusions

Mineral and phase distribution in rock sections

Phase transitions

Mineral behavior under extreme conditions

Carbon Materials

Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)

Purity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)

Electrical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)

sp2 and sp3 structure in carbon materials

Hard disk drives

Diamond like carbon (DLC) coating properties

Defect/disorder analysis in carbon materials

Diamond quality and provenance

Semiconductors

Characterisation of intrinsic stress/strain

Purity

Alloy composition

Contamination identification

Superlattice structure

Defect analysis

Hetero-structures

Doping effects

Photoluminescence micro-analysis

Life Sciences

Bio-compatibility

DNA/RNA analysis

Drug/cell interactions

Photodynamic therapy (PDT)

Metabolic accretions

Disease diagnosis

Single cell analysis

Cell sorting

Characterisation of bio-molecules

Bone structure