Lab Guide: Yuri Vinshtein, room 314, Multi-Disciplinary research Bldg., Tel:640-5912

History of the Experiment

Raman spectroscopy was first identified theoretically in 1923 by A. Smekel in Germany.  Around the same time, G. Landsberg and L. Mandelstam observed the effect in quartz.  However, it was not proved experimentally until 1928, by Sir C. V. Raman from India who was knighted in 1929 for his discovery.

 A few words about theory 

Raman Spectroscopy is the inelastic scattering of light. It is a non destructive technique of probing a material with a visible light source and obtaining the Raman spectra of the material. Monochromatic light is incident to the material with a certain frequency ν, and two types of scattering occurs.

1. Elastic scattering-no change in energy (Rayleigh Scattering)

2.Inelastic scattering-change in energy occurs (Raman Scattering)