Spectroscopy is an analytical technique that measures the interaction between electromagnetic radiation (or other energetic probes, such as electrons or ions) and matter as a function of wavelength, frequency, or energy to obtain information about a system’s composition, structure, and dynamics. By monitoring absorption, emission, scattering, or reflection, spectroscopy reveals quantized energy levels associated with electronic, vibrational, and rotational states. Variants such as UV–Vis, infrared, Raman, nuclear magnetic resonance, and X-ray spectroscopy exploit distinct interaction mechanisms and selection rules, enabling determination of molecular identity, chemical environment, bonding characteristics, and in some cases spatial or temporal evolution of materials and biochemical systems.
For decades, light has been used to understand the molecular structures of matter. A sample is irradiated with light, and measurements determine the wavelengths at which it is absorbed. Since each molecule absorbs light at ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 26, 2026
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Before people can mine resources on the moon, asteroids or Mars, they need to answer a few key questions: What is there? How much is there? And where can it be found? A team led by SETI Institute research scientist Pablo ...
Space Exploration
Aug 19, 2026
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What do you do when the observation you need comes around once a year? Well, preparation is key, but this is the awkward truth about finding another Earth. When a planet crosses the face of its star, a sliver of starlight ...
Astronomy
Aug 13, 2026
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When certain atoms are irradiated with laser light, they can produce a very different kind of laser light: laser pulses with extremely high frequencies in the X-ray range. These laser pulses, which helped achieve record-breaking ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 11, 2026
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By rapidly twisting a microscopically small tip back and forth, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have unlocked a new way to detect subtle changes on the surface of a material flexing in response to infrared ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 7, 2026
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Fluorescent dyes have long been used in biological research to identify and visualize structures within living cells. Although effective, they have several drawbacks, including altering the cells under study, limiting the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 6, 2026
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Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, have developed and tested a new class of fluorescent probes that enable scientists to visualize xylem, ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 1, 2026
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Researchers have developed and tested an infrared spectroscopy system that can rapidly detect chemical aerosols from a distance by using light reflected from common surfaces such as traffic signs, tree trunks or painted surfaces. ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 30, 2026
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Resolving a long-standing problem in semiconductor physics and optoelectronics, a team of researchers from Skoltech—a VEB.RF group institution—and their colleagues from ITMO University and HSE University have for the first ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 29, 2026
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Electronic motion sets the stage for virtually every light-induced process in nature, from the first step of a chemical reaction to the flow of charge in a solid. Yet these processes unfold so rapidly that they can be observed ...
General Physics
Jul 29, 2026
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