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.
Table of Contents:
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
About the Author :
David Andrews is known for advances in the theory of quantum and
nonlinear optics, fundamental photonics, energy transport, and optical
vortices. He has published 400 papers and over twenty books, including as
author or co-author Lasers in Chemistry, Optical Harmonics in
Molecular Systems, Optical Nanomanipulation, and an Introduction
to Photon Science and Technology. David has taught extensively at the
University of East Anglia and run numerous spectroscopy courses for industry:
he has twice been Chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry Molecular
Spectroscopy Group. Andrews is a Chartered Chemist and Chartered
Physicist, and he is the 2021 President of SPIE, the international society for
optics and photonics.
Rob Lipson has published extensively in the areas of laser
spectroscopy, nanoscience, and novel material for photonics applications.
He has taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate level physical
chemistry courses at Western University and the University of Victoria
(UVic). Administratively, he has served as Chair of the Department of
Chemistry at Western and two terms as Dean of Science at UVic. In
addition to his academic work, he was also a long-serving Senior Editor of the
Canadian Journal of Chemistry, and a panel member on numerous funding and
research integrity committees for the federal Government of Canada.
Lipson is a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada.
Review :
This excellent book is pitched just at the right level for an undergraduate or introductory graduate course. For instance, it discusses fundamental spectroscopy, that many students will have seen before in standard courses, then connects those concepts to more advanced and applied topics.
Gregory D. Scholes, FRS, FRSCan, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA
