Publisher's Synopsis
For many years the practice of Raman spectroscopy was confined to experts in dedicated academic or industrial research laboratories. The instruments were large, complicated and the experiments quite complex. With advances in modern technology Raman spectrometers can be small, portable and are regularly used by people who are neither specialist spectroscopists nor analysts. This book aims to provide the information necessary to enable new users of Raman spectroscopy to understand and apply the technique correctly and includes descriptions of the many pitfalls that can be encountered.
The early chapters provide enough basic theory to make a practical interpretation of Raman spectra. The theory is dealt with in more depth in later chapters where the approach is to describe the main equations involved in Raman scattering, concentrating on their meaning and relevance. With this background the much more detailed world is revealed in which aspects of Raman spectroscopy can provide unique information for a limited number of analytical problems. A full mathematical approach to the theory of Raman spectroscopy is outside the scope of this book. For those who stay to the end, the book will provide a firm grounding from which to approach more in depth studies of specific aspects of Raman spectroscopy with appropriate references given.
It is the authors hope that those who are just developing or reviving an interest in Raman spectroscopy will very quickly gain a practical understanding from the first two chapters. Furthermore they will be inspired by the elegance and information content of the technique to delve further into the rest of the book, opening up the vast potential of the more sophisticated applications of Raman spectroscopy.
