Absorption Spectroscopy

Absorption Spectroscopy

Subject: Science and Technology

In news: Researchers from IIT Madras and IISER Kolkata have developed a method to detect minute quantities of chemicals in solution.

• They use a variation of absorption spectroscopy that surpasses the systemic limits imposed by conventional absorption spectroscopy.
• With this technique, they can, in principle, illuminate the insides of cells and detect minuscule quantities of substances present there. The work was published in Nanoscale.

About Absorption Spectroscopy: 

• Absorption spectroscopy is a tool to detect the presence of elements in a medium.
• Usually in absorption spectroscopy, the principle used is that light, because of its wavelike nature, shows diffraction patterns, that is, dark and light fringes, when it scatters off any object.
• A related concept called the Abbe criterion sets a natural limit on the size of the object being studied.
• Absorption spectroscopy is performed across the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Absorption spectroscopy is also employed in studies of molecular and atomic physics, astronomical spectroscopy and remote sensing.

Applications:

• Infrared gas analyzers can be used to identify the presence of pollutants in the air, distinguishing the pollutant from nitrogen, oxygen, water and other expected constituents.
• Remote Sensing.

Following are the major types of absorption spectroscopy: