Molecular Photophysics and Spectroscopy (Second Edition)

This new, expanded edition provides a fresh, accessible photon-based description of modern molecular spectroscopy and photophysics for senior undergraduates and graduate students. Includes works examples and purposely devised illustrations.

This new, expanded edition provides a fresh, photon-based description of modern molecular spectroscopy and photophysics, with applications that are drawn from across the breadth of chemistry, biology, physics, and materials science, including recent developments. The focus is on the mechanisms that operate at the fundamental level, on how light absorption and scattering occur in molecules, what happens to the energy which the molecules acquire, and what may be learned from the study of these processes. Mathematics is again kept to a minimum though quantitative understanding is nevertheless put into practice via example calculations throughout the text. With the aid of extensive, purposely devised illustrations, this approach fosters a deeper intuition for the photophysical processes involved in light‒matter interaction, aiming to consolidate the principles and to exemplify how widely ranging information can be derived from spectroscopic studies.

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to the First Edition

List of Symbols

1 Introduction to molecular spectroscopy and photophysics

2 Atoms and molecules: developing principles of electronic structure

3 Polyatomic molecules: orbitals, symmetry and group theory

4 Electronic and nuclear energy levels in molecules

5 Small molecule rotational energy levels and spectra

6 Diatomic and triatomic molecules: vibrations and spectra

7 Vibrational states in large molecules: infrared absorption spectroscopy

8 Raman scattering and spectral interpretation

9 Electronic and vibrational states in large molecules

10 Electronic transitions, colours, and detection

11 After light is absorbed: photophysics in an excited electronic state

12 Molecular fluorescence

13 Fluorescence resonance energy transfer

14 Chiral phenomena and optical activity

15 Multiphoton processes in molecules

Bibliography