Introduction

Welcome to the website of the course Spectroscopic Methods for Materials Characterization – Optical Spectroscopy Part (3 ECTS).
Optical spectroscopy in general, and in particular microscopy and imaging techniques based on it, have become a common resource in many advanced materials science laboratories.

The course is designed as an introduction to optical spectroscopy and as a “tutorial” on the main spectroscopic and advanced imaging techniques currently used in research and materials characterization laboratories.

The aim is therefore to qualitatively introduce the fundamental concepts of spectroscopy and the related imaging techniques based on fluorescence (e.g., FLI, FRET, STED, two-photon fluorescence), infrared (FT-IR, ATR), and Raman spectroscopy (e.g., SERS), and then to examine examples of applications taken from recent scientific literature.

The course also includes a visit to the fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy/imaging laboratory, with short demonstrations (in the presence of the instructor) of some of the techniques covered during the course.