Raman scattering spectroscopy surface information

Since surface-enchanced Raman scattering spectroscopy is still a relatively new technique, its theory and experimental conditions have not yet been completed. Much experimental and theoretical work will have to be undertaken to enable the data to be evaluated more precisely and more quantitatively. Only then will it be possible to assume that this technique might be ranked with other physical techniques suitable for structural studies such as normal solution Raman or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrophotometry. The two latter techniques can provide information about the structure of molecules at the level of single atoms, but to carry out solution Raman or NMR spectrometry experiments relatively very high concentrations of the compound are needed. SERS or SERRS could be one way of overcoming this problem, which is particularly inconvenient in the case of analysis of most biomacromolecules by physical or physico-chemical techniques. 

In addition to the indirect experimental evidence coming from work function measurements, information about water orientation at metal surfaces is beginning to emerge from recent applications of a number of in situ vibrational spectroscopic techniques. Infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, and second harmonic generation have been used to investigate the structure of water at different metal surfaces, but the pictures emerging from all these studies are not always consistent, partially because of surface modification and chemical adsorption, which complicate the analysis. 

Raman spectroscopy can offer vibrational information that is complementary to that obtained by IR. Furthermore, since the Raman spectrum reveals the backbone structure of a molecular entity [55], it is particularly useful in the examination of polymer film-coated electrodes. There are also some distinct advantages over in situ IR. For example, both the mid and far infrared spectral regions can be accessed with the same instrumental setup (in IR spectroscopy, these two regions typically require separate optics) [55]. Second, solvents such as water and acetonitrile are weak Raman scatterers thus the solvent medium does not optically obscure the electrode surface as it does in an in situ IR experiment. 

S S CONTENTS Preface, C. Allen Bush. Methods in Macromo-lecular Crystallography, Andrew J. Howard and Thomas L. Poulos. Circular Dichroism and Conformation of Unordered Polypeptides, Robert W. Woody. Luminescence Studies with Horse Liver Dehydrogenase Information on the Structure, Dynamics, Transitions and Interactions of this Enzyme, Maurice R. Eftink. Surface-Enhanced Resonance Raman Scattering (SERRS) Spectroscopy A Probe of Biomolecular Structure and Bonding at Surfaces, Therese M. Cotton, Jae-Ho Kim and Randall E. Holt. Three-Dimensional Conformations of Complex Carbohydrates, C. Allen Bush and Perse-veranda Cagas. Index. 

The extremely small cross sections for conventional Raman scattering, typically 10 111 to 10-25 cm2/molecule has in the past precluded the use of this technique for single-molecule detection and identification. Until recently, optical trace detection with single molecule sensitivity has been achieved mainly using laser-induced fluorescence [14], The fluorescence method provides ultrahigh sensitivity, but the amount of molecular information, particularly at room temperature, is very limited. Therefore, about 50 years after the discovery of the Raman effect, the novel phenomenon of dramatic Raman signal enhancement from molecules assembled on metallic nanostructures, known as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy or SERS, has led to ultrasensitive single-molecule detection. 

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