• Location: Laboratory G31 (02 9385 9792) in the Chemical Sciences Building (F10).
• Anne Rich (02 9385 9795, Office G32 - access via Lab G31)
• Yu Wang (02 9385 4669, Office M69 - access via Lab G65)

Capabilities of the Spectroscopy Laboratory

Our spectroscopy laboratory currently hosts three Raman microscopes.

The Raman instruments comprise a microscope to focus a laser source onto the sample, and a spectrometer to measure the small fraction of Raman scattered radiation. The Raman scattered radiation is characterised by wavelength changes from the laser source that correspond to vibrational changes in a molecule. Hence a Raman spectrum of a sample resembles the infrared spectrum. However Raman is a complementary technique to infrared spectroscopy, since Raman measures the change in polarizability of a bond, rather than changes in dipole or charge distribution. One practical implication is that water is a weak Raman scatterer so samples (such as biological materials) can contain water.

Example of Raman spectroscopy applications include:

• Chemical characterisation and crystallinity determinations of polymers.
• Chemical characterisation of small organic molecules via library matching.
• Biological samples - mapping lipid and amino acid rich areas in cells.
• Identification of metal-ligand bonds.
• Mineral identification - identification of titania phases.
• Crystal strain measurement - strain imposed by defect structures on semiconductors.
• Characterisation of carbon fullerenes and nanotubes.

Training on the instruments, and a sample service is provided by our Technical Officer Dr Anne Rich who is available from Monday to Thursday. Technical services on Friday mornings are available from Joel Alexander, usually by prior arrangement. Advance bookings for the sample service or instrument training should be made by email. If you need training on the instrument, please email to book a time, and bring along a copy of our registration form with all of your details.

If you are unable to contact Anne or Joel, you can try Dr Yu Wang (+612 9385 4693, UNSW Ext. 54693) or Dr Chris Marjo.

A link to the spectroscopy instrument page is here.

Booking and Use of an Instrument

Trained users can access the booking system of the spectroscopy laboratory online. In the system users can view time available for a particular instrument and book for a selected time slot. There are a few rules to ensure efficient and fair use of the facilities.

1. The maximum booking session for a single user is one day. The user must make the next day free for other users. If more than one day is required, this should be discussed with the manager of the laboratory.

2. If a user cannot use his/her session for any reason, he/she must cancel the session before it commences. Otherwise, a charge will be made for the instrument time lost to other users.

3. If a user has booked time on an instrument but does not turn up within 20 minutes of the commencement of his/her session, other potential users may use the time booked by this user.