ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of work in the use of Raman spectroscopy for chemical and physical analysis that is the determination of the chemical composition and physical state of a sample, including measurement of the temporal and spatial variation in composition and state. It uses the symbol ? to indicate a frequency in rad/s; however, we may sometimes refer to "frequencies" in wavenumbers, as is customary in spectroscopy. Advances in laser Raman techniques have led to very highly time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, presently with picosecond time resolution. Recent technological advances in Raman spectroscopy and the consequent rapid growth in the application of this important spectroscopic technique have resulted in an enormous body of Raman literature. The magnitude of the signal to be expected in a particular application of Raman spectroscopy is an important consideration in evaluating the feasibility of a Raman technique for that application.
