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.
Researchers have developed a new technology that can shape the spectrum of light emitted from a laser frequency comb across the visible and near-infrared wavelengths with more precision than previously possible. This advance ...
Optics & Photonics
Oct 30, 2025
0
69
Infrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in their native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB ...
Bio & Medicine
Oct 16, 2025
0
60
Materials scientists can learn a lot about a sample material by shooting lasers at it. With nonlinear optical microscopy—a specialized imaging technique that looks for a change in the color of intense laser light—researchers ...
Optics & Photonics
Oct 15, 2025
0
73
The bandgap, i.e. the energy gap between the highest lying valence and the lowest lying conduction band, is a defining property of insulating solids, governing how they absorb light and conduct electricity. Tracking how a ...
Optics & Photonics
Oct 9, 2025
0
72
How do plants breathe? When do they open and close the tiny pores on their leaves, and what does this mean for their water balance? A research team led by Marburg physicist Professor Martin Koch has developed a method to ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 29, 2025
0
64
In a world-first, researchers from the Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have directly observed the evolution of the elusive dark excitons in atomically thin materials, ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 25, 2025
0
843
Using a combination of spectromicroscopy at BESSY II and microscopic analyses at DESY's NanoLab, a team has gained new insights into the chemical behavior of nanocatalysts during catalysis.
Nanomaterials
Sep 10, 2025
0
89
Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) have developed a novel method for investigating the internal structure of atoms and discovered previously unknown atomic transitions ...
General Physics
Aug 25, 2025
0
111
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), in collaboration with international partners, have developed momentum-resolved Floquet optical selection rules. They show how these ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 21, 2025
0
560
Optical frequency combs are specially designed lasers that act like rulers to accurately and rapidly measure specific frequencies of light. They can be used to detect and identify chemicals and pollutants with extremely high ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 20, 2025
0
174
