any atom, molecule, or condensed phase up to a solid needs to be characterized, from the species identification to structural definition and electron dynamics. Consequently, this practice‐oriented handbook collects the presentation of different spectroscopic techniques nowadays used to carry out experiments and is thought for master’s students, PhD students, and researchers who are not yet experts in the field of spectroscopy. Each chapter is a standalone contribution dedicated to a different technique and is composed of a basic theory introduction at a level adapted to students, plus more advanced information for experts. Then, details about the characteristic instrumental features and apparatus are considered, aiming to give hints for the appropriate arrangement of a typical experiment and, in some cases, for the understanding of the choice of an instrumental setup and the selection of technical features. Each chapter is completed by case studies that can be reproduced by employing commercially available or laboratory‐prepared samples, or by examples of applications mainly from the above‐cited fields of materials science, chemistry, and engineering. Furthermore, hints for the deepening one’s understanding of the topic with more specialist books are given along the way.
The first chapter is dedicated to the basic aspects of radiation–matter interaction in the visible‐ultraviolet range and the fundamentals of absorption and emission (fluorescence and phosphorescence) processes of atoms and molecules. This chapter is followed by two chapters on time‐resolved spectroscopy at the nanosecond scale and the more recent frontier approach of ultrafast spectroscopy at the femtosecond scale. These chapters detail the aspects of the electron dynamics in the excited states after pulsed excitation through emission and absorption processes including the Raman effect. Then, a chapter dedicated to fluorescence microscopy imaging at the nanoscale domain is presented with confocal and two‐photon techniques, where aspects of spatial resolution and dynamics are explored. The molecular vibrational spectroscopy in the infrared range is tackled in Chapters 5 and 6 by both the absorption and the Raman scattering effects. These chapters report on the fundamental aspects of radiation‐molecular vibration interaction and consider the traditional experimental methods, detailing the most recent applications of microscopy and joined vibrational–atomic force microscopy. The following two chapters consider spectroscopy related to irradiation effects. The first is focused on the thermoluminescence phenomenon of light emission induced by heating a sample after it has been exposed to ionizing radiation environment. The spectroscopic aspects are introduced and the basics of the phenomenon together with the interpretation of trap states and release thermodynamics are deepened in view of the application in many emerging fields such as dosimetry. In a similar context, Chapter 8 reports on the phenomena of radiation‐induced absorption, emission, and compaction with a focus on the novel online (in situ) measurements, particularly useful for the spectroscopic study of the materials' modifications during their exposure to ionizing radiation as well as their recovery processes. Chapters 9 and 10 treat the magnetic spectroscopy illustrating the electron and nuclear phenomena. In particular, electron paramagnetic resonance in the static and dynamic domains are dealt with in the former chapter, considering hyperfine interaction, transient dynamics, and the S = 1 state paramagnetism. In the latter chapter, the standard as well as the non‐conventional nuclear magnetic resonance phenomena are introduced including the Fourier transform, the Magic Angle Spinning, and the time domain studies. The book then reports on high‐energy spectroscopy with three chapters on X‐rays and ultraviolet radiation. Chapter 11 reports on the absorption process of X‐rays in near edge and pre‐edge, also including fine structure determination and in situ spectroscopy. Chapter 12 introduces photoelectron emission illustrating the surface maps and the depth and angle resolved profiles. Successively, Chapter 13 covers vacuum ultraviolet excitations considering the most widely available sources. Finally, two structural spectroscopy chapters on transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are included. They report on the structural investigation at the atomic and nanometric scale including those spectroscopic aspects pertaining to high‐energy excitation in the former technique and to the novel interpretation of spectroscopy in the latter.
The book, as stated above, is the result of the contribution of different scientists mainly working in the field of physics, chemistry, surface science, and nanoscience. Their different points of view assure a multidisciplinary approach to the techniques and, as a consequence, appeal to a broad readership of researchers and students dedicated to the studies on materials.
The Editor Simonpietro Agnello
List of Contributors
Simonpietro Agnello Department of Physics and Chemistry – Emilio Segrè University of Palermo Palermo Italy
Raffaele Giuseppe Agostino Dipartimento di Fisica Università della Calabria Rende CS Italy
Antonino Alessi Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend AnalysisAppelsgarten 2 Euskirchen Germany Laboratoire des Solides IrradiésCEA/DRF/IRAMIS,CNRS, Ecole polytechnique Institut Polytechnique de Paris Palaiseau France
Gianpiero Buscarino Department of Physics and Chemistry – Emilio Segrè University of Palermo Palermo Italy
Marco Cannas Department of Physics and Chemistry – Emilio Segrè University of Palermo Palermo Italy
Pellegrino Conte Department of Agriculture,Food and Forestry Sciences University of Palermo Palermo Italy
Vincenzo De Michele Laboratoire Hubert Curien Université Jean Monnet Saint‐Etienne France
Giuliana Faggio Department of Information Engineering Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria Reggio Calabria Italy
Tiziana Fiore Department of Physics and Chemistry – Emilio Segrè University of Palermo Palermo Italy
Vincenzo Formoso Dipartimento di Fisica Università della Calabria Rende CS Italy
Franco Gelardi Department of Physics and Chemistry – Emilio Segrè University of Palermo Palermo Italy
Francesco Giannici Department of Physics and Chemistry – Emilio Segrè University of Palermo Palermo Italy
Sylvain Girard Laboratoire Hubert Curien Université Jean Monnet Saint‐Etienne France
Rossella Grillo Department of Information Engineering Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria Reggio Calabria Italy
Alessandro Longo The European Synchrotron Grenoble France ISMN‐CNR Palermo Italy
Fabrizio Messina Department of Physics and Chemistry – Emilio Segrè University of Palermo Palermo Italy
Giacomo Messina Department of Information Engineering Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria Reggio Calabria Italy
Adriana Morana Laboratoire Hubert Curien Université Jean Monnet Saint‐Etienne France
Federico
