3. Experimental

In Raman spectroscopy, a laser diode emits photons, which interacts with the sample, most of the light bouncing off unchanged with the same frequency as the source (Rayleigh scattering). However, a small amount of light experiences an energy shift (Raman scattering) and is filtered to allow only the Raman scattered light to be collected by the detector. The sample vibrates uniquely to its structure and each vibration mode uniquely alters the emitted photons wavelength and that change is graphed as intensity per wavelength. An unknown sample's Raman spectrum can be compared to the known Raman spectral graph.
