Raman Spectroscopy

The combination of a Raman and/or IR spectrometer with an optical microscope allows spectra of small objects to be measured with high spatial resolution (up to few micrometres). Raman and Infrared spectroscopy provides a non-destructive way of characterisation and surface analysis of a wide-ranging number of materials and systems. Both methods are a vibrational spectroscopy technique for identification and analysis of molecular species and crystalline
structures. Raman spectroscopy and IR spectroscopy provide information complementary to each other and the integration of Raman and IR modules on one microscope allows potentially to analyse the same sample area with both techniques

Why choose the University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry as a partner for your Raman Spectroscopy needs?

  • Discuss your project with our expert researchers, who can propose the best ways of acquiring vibrational spectra from your materials.
  • Use the facility yourself – get training on the Raman/FTIR facility suitable for your application; after training, you can use it with available help of expert researchers.
  • Get help with analysis of spectral data after measurement; compare the results from  infrared spectroscopy with the materials spectral library data.
The techniques can be successfully applied in areas such as materials science, nanotechnology, semiconductors, geosciences, pharmaceutical and biosciences and microplastics analysis.

 

We Can Answer Your Questions

“What is the chemical composition of this?”

Kinetic analysis of bioorthogonal reaction mechanisms using Raman microscopy

EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE

  • Renishaw inVia Raman microscope equipped with optics for working with 3 laser excitation lines (488, 514 and 785nm); measurements can be taken in the range of 100 – 4000 cm-1 with spectral resolution on the level of 1 wavenumber.

  • Leica microscope with a set of objectives from 5x to 100x with various working distances (1-12mm) provides visual observation of a sample up to magnification level of 1000 times using digital camera.

  • Microscopes are equipped with a motorised stage (1um in X-Y or Z directions) and can perform precise positioning of the sample, depth profiling and/or mapping. Spatial resolution depends on the objective used and can be < 2 micrometres for objectives with high numerical aperture.

  • Mcroscopes are combined with a Smiths IlluminatIR FTIR unit, which allows middle IR measurements (the spectral range of 650 - 4000 wavenumbers with spectral resolution of 4 wavenumbers) in reflection mode with 2 types of objectives – non-contact All Reflective Objective (x 10) and diamond coated ATR IR objective (x 36). Best spatial resolution - 12 microns.

For more information contact SoC-Facilities@ei.ed.ac.uk 

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