David Drapcho

The in situ combination of rheometry and Raman spectroscopy allows for real-time, synchronized measurement of both physical and chemical material properties.

Multiple angle incidence resolution spectroscopy (MAIRS) has proven useful for characterization of the in-plane (IP) and out of plane (OP) vibrations of thin films on solid substrates. The MAIRS technique computes the IP and OP spectra by performing a regression analysis on a series of oblique-incidence transmission spectra collected over a range of angles of a single thin film sample mounted on a transparent substrate. MAIRS replaces the more traditional technique of the collection of a transmission spectrum of a thin film on a transparent substrate, followed by collection of a reflection absorption spectrum of the same film on a metallic substrate. Often times, preparation of the same thin film on different substrates with different chemical and physical properties can be problematic. This paper will discuss details of the electromagnetic theory of MAIRS, and demonstrate its use in producing the IP and OP spectra of several thin film samples.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been studied extensively over the last few decades with many advances in preparation of SERS substrates and coatings. While the bulk of the research in SERS substrate preparation has been devoted to pushing detection limits to higher sensitivity for measurement of single samples, the application of SERS to high-throughput analysis has been largely ignored. In this article, we present the use of commercially available SERS-coated microtiter plates in a dedicated Raman microtiter plate reader, enabling high-throughput trace analysis measurements. This article also describes the SERS substrate, the high-throughput plate reader, and preliminary results from samples representing trace analysis of explosives, nerve agents, pharmaceuticals, and biological compounds.