Fourier-transform

infrared
spectroscopy

FTIR))[1] is a t echnique used t o obt ain an infrared

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy ((FTIR
spect rum of absorpt ion or emission of a solid, liquid or gas. An FTIR spect romet er
simult aneously collect s high-resolut ion spect ral dat a over a wide spect ral range. This confers a
significant advant age over a dispersive spect romet er, which measures int ensit y over a narrow
range of wavelengt hs at a t ime.

The t erm Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy originat es from t he fact t hat a Fourier
t ransform (a mat hemat ical process) is required t o convert t he raw dat a int o t he act ual spect rum.
An example of an FTIR spectrometer with an attenuated total reflectance (ATR) attachment

Conceptual introduction

An FTIR interferogram. The central peak is at the ZPD position ("zero path difference" or zero retardation), where the
maximal amount of light passes through the interferometer to the detector.

The goal of absorpt ion spect roscopy t echniques (FTIR, ult raviolet -visible ("UV-vis")
spect roscopy, et c.) is t o measure how much light a sample absorbs at each wavelengt h. The
most st raight forward way t o do t his, t he "dispersive spect roscopy" t echnique, is t o shine a
monochromat ic light beam at a sample, measure how much of t he light is absorbed, and repeat
for each different wavelengt h. (This is how some UV–vis spect romet ers work, for example.)

Fourier t ransform spect roscopy is a less int uit ive way t o obt ain t he same informat ion. Rat her
t han shining a monochromat ic beam of light (a beam composed of only a single wavelengt h) at
t he sample, t his t echnique shines a beam cont aining many frequencies of light at once and
measures how much of t hat beam is absorbed by t he sample. Next , t he beam is modified t o
cont ain a different combinat ion of frequencies, giving a second dat a point . This process is rapidly
repeat ed many t imes over a short t ime span. Aft erwards, a comput er t akes all t his dat a and
works backward t o infer what t he absorpt ion is at each wavelengt h.

The beam described above is generat ed by st art ing wit h a broadband light source—one
cont aining t he full spect rum of wavelengt hs t o be measured. The light shines int o a Michelson
int erferomet er—a cert ain configurat ion of mirrors, one of which is moved by a mot or. As t his
mirror moves, each wavelengt h of light in t he beam is periodically blocked, t ransmit t ed, blocked,
t ransmit t ed, by t he int erferomet er, due t o wave int erference. Different wavelengt hs are
modulat ed at different rat es, so t hat at each moment or mirror posit ion t he beam coming out of
t he int erferomet er has a different spect rum.

As ment ioned, comput er processing is required t o t urn t he raw dat a (light absorpt ion for each
mirror posit ion) int o t he desired result (light absorpt ion for each wavelengt h). The processing
required t urns out t o be a common algorit hm called t he Fourier t ransform. The Fourier t ransform
convert s one domain (in t his case displacement of t he mirror in cm) int o it s inverse domain
(wavenumbers in cm−1). The raw dat a is called an "int erferogram".

History

The first low-cost spect rophot omet er capable of recording an infrared spect rum was t he
Perkin-Elmer Infracord produced in 1957.[2] This inst rument covered t he wavelengt h range from
2.5 μm t o 15 μm (wavenumber range 4,000 cm−1 t o 660 cm−1). The lower wavelengt h limit was
chosen t o encompass t he highest known vibrat ion frequency due t o a fundament al molecular
vibrat ion. The upper limit was imposed by t he fact t hat t he dispersing element was a prism made
from a single cryst al of rock-salt (sodium chloride), which becomes opaque at wavelengt hs
longer t han about 15 μm; t his spect ral region became known as t he rock-salt region. Lat er
inst rument s used pot assium bromide prisms t o ext end t he range t o 25 μm (400 cm−1) and
caesium iodide 50 μm (200 cm−1). The region beyond 50 μm (200 cm−1) became known as t he
far-infrared region; at very long wavelengt hs it merges int o t he microwave region. Measurement s
in t he far infrared needed t he development of accurat ely ruled diffract ion grat ings t o replace
t he prisms as dispersing element s, since salt cryst als are opaque in t his region. More sensit ive
det ect ors t han t he bolomet er were required because of t he low energy of t he radiat ion. One
such was t he Golay det ect or. An addit ional issue is t he need t o exclude at mospheric wat er
vapour because wat er vapour has an int ense pure rot at ional spect rum in t his region. Far-infrared
spect rophot omet ers were cumbersome, slow and expensive. The advant ages of t he Michelson
int erferomet er were well-known, but considerable t echnical difficult ies had t o be overcome
before a commercial inst rument could be built . Also an elect ronic comput er was needed t o
perform t he required Fourier t ransform, and t his only became pract icable wit h t he advent of
minicomput ers, such as t he PDP-8, which became available in 1965. Digilab pioneered t he world's
first commercial FTIR spect romet er (Model FTS-14) in 1969[1] (Digilab FTIRs are now a part of
Agilent t echnologies's molecular product line aft er it acquired spect roscopy business from
Varian).[3][4]

Michelson interferometer

Schematic diagram of a Michelson interferometer, configured for FTIR

In a Michelson int erferomet er adapt ed for FTIR, light from t he polychromat ic infrared source,
approximat ely a black-body radiat or, is collimat ed and direct ed t o a beam split t er. Ideally 50% of
t he light is refract ed t owards t he fixed mirror and 50% is t ransmit t ed t owards t he moving mirror.
Light is reflect ed from t he t wo mirrors back t o t he beam split t er and some fract ion of t he
original light passes int o t he sample compart ment . There, t he light is focused on t he sample. On
leaving t he sample compart ment t he light is refocused on t o t he det ect or. The difference in
opt ical pat h lengt h bet ween t he t wo arms t o t he int erferomet er is known as t he retardation or
optical path difference (OPD). An int erferogram is obt ained by varying t he ret ardat ion and
recording t he signal from t he det ect or for various values of t he ret ardat ion. The form of t he
int erferogram when no sample is present depends on fact ors such as t he variat ion of source
int ensit y and split t er efficiency wit h wavelengt h. This result s in a maximum at zero ret ardat ion,
when t here is const ruct ive int erference at all wavelengt hs, followed by series of "wiggles". The
posit ion of zero ret ardat ion is det ermined accurat ely by finding t he point of maximum int ensit y in
t he int erferogram. When a sample is present t he background int erferogram is modulat ed by t he
presence of absorpt ion bands in t he sample.

Commercial spect romet ers use Michelson int erferomet ers wit h a variet y of scanning
mechanisms t o generat e t he pat h difference. Common t o all t hese arrangement s is t he need t o
ensure t hat t he t wo beams recombine exact ly as t he syst em scans. The simplest syst ems have
a plane mirror t hat moves linearly t o vary t he pat h of one beam. In t his arrangement t he moving
mirror must not t ilt or wobble as t his would affect how t he beams overlap as t hey recombine.
Some syst ems incorporat e a compensat ing mechanism t hat aut omat ically adjust s t he
orient at ion of one mirror t o maint ain t he alignment . Arrangement s t hat avoid t his problem include
using cube corner reflect ors inst ead of plane mirrors as t hese have t he propert y of ret urning any
incident beam in a parallel direct ion regardless of orient at ion.

Interferometer schematics where the path difference is generated by a rotary motion.

Syst ems where t he pat h difference is generat ed by a rot ary movement have proved very
successful. One common syst em incorporat es a pair of parallel mirrors in one beam t hat can be
rot at ed t o vary t he pat h wit hout displacing t he ret urning beam. Anot her is t he double pendulum
design where t he pat h in one arm of t he int erferomet er increases as t he pat h in t he ot her
decreases.

A quit e different approach involves moving a wedge of an IR-t ransparent mat erial such as KBr
int o one of t he beams. Increasing t he t hickness of KBr in t he beam increases t he opt ical pat h
because t he refract ive index is higher t han t hat of air. One limit at ion of t his approach is t hat t he
variat ion of refract ive index over t he wavelengt h range limit s t he accuracy of t he wavelengt h
calibrat ion.

Measuring and processing the interferogram

The int erferogram has t o be measured from zero pat h difference t o a maximum lengt h t hat
depends on t he resolut ion required. In pract ice t he scan can be on eit her side of zero result ing in
a double-sided int erferogram. Mechanical design limit at ions may mean t hat for t he highest
resolut ion t he scan runs t o t he maximum OPD on one side of zero only.

The int erferogram is convert ed t o a spect rum by Fourier t ransformat ion. This requires it t o be
st ored in digit al form as a series of values at equal int ervals of t he pat h difference bet ween t he
t wo beams. To measure t he pat h difference a laser beam is sent t hrough t he int erferomet er,
generat ing a sinusoidal signal where t he separat ion bet ween successive maxima is equal t o t he
wavelengt h of t he laser (t ypically a 633 nm HeNe laser is used). This can t rigger an analog-t o-
digit al convert er t o measure t he IR signal each t ime t he laser signal passes t hrough zero.
Alt ernat ively, t he laser and IR signals can be measured synchronously at smaller int ervals wit h
t he IR signal at point s corresponding t o t he laser signal zero crossing being det ermined by
int erpolat ion.[5] This approach allows t he use of analog-t o-digit al convert ers t hat are more
accurat e and precise t han convert ers t hat can be t riggered, result ing in lower noise.

Values of the interferogram at times corresponding to zero crossings of the laser signal are found by interpolation.
The result of Fourier t ransformat ion is a spect rum of t he signal at a series of discret e
wavelengt hs. The range of wavelengt hs t hat can be used in t he calculat ion is limit ed by t he
separat ion of t he dat a point s in t he int erferogram. The short est wavelengt h t hat can be
recognized is t wice t he separat ion bet ween t hese dat a point s. For example, wit h one point per
wavelengt h of a HeNe reference laser at 0.633 μm (15 800 cm−1) t he short est wavelengt h
would be 1.266 μm (7900 cm−1). Because of aliasing any energy at short er wavelengt hs would be
int erpret ed as coming from longer wavelengt hs and so has t o be minimized opt ically or
elect ronically. The spect ral resolut ion, i.e. t he separat ion bet ween wavelengt hs t hat can be
dist inguished, is det ermined by t he maximum OPD. The wavelengt hs used in calculat ing t he
Fourier t ransform are such t hat an exact number of wavelengt hs fit int o t he lengt h of t he
int erferogram from zero t o t he maximum OPD as t his makes t heir cont ribut ions ort hogonal. This
result s in a spect rum wit h point s separat ed by equal frequency int ervals.

For a maximum pat h difference d adjacent wavelengt hs λ1 and λ2 will have n and (n+1) cycles,
respect ively, in t he int erferogram. The corresponding frequencies are ν1 and ν2:

d = nλ1 and d = (n+1)λ2

λ1 = d/n and λ2 =d/(n+1)
ν1 = 1/λ1 and ν2 = 1/λ2
ν1 = n/d and ν2 = (n+1)/d
ν2 − ν1 = 1/d

The separat ion is t he inverse of t he maximum OPD. For example, a maximum OPD of 2 cm
result s in a separat ion of 0.5 cm−1. This is t he spect ral resolut ion in t he sense t hat t he value at
one point is independent of t he values at adjacent point s. Most inst rument s can be operat ed at
different resolut ions by choosing different OPD's. Inst rument s for rout ine analyses t ypically
have a best resolut ion of around 0.5 cm−1, while spect romet ers have been built wit h resolut ions
as high as 0.001 cm−1, corresponding t o a maximum OPD of 10 m. The point in t he int erferogram
corresponding t o zero pat h difference has t o be ident ified, commonly by assuming it is where t he
maximum signal occurs. This so-called cent erburst is not always symmet rical in real world
spect romet ers so a phase correct ion may have t o be calculat ed. The int erferogram signal
decays as t he pat h difference increases, t he rat e of decay being inversely relat ed t o t he widt h
of feat ures in t he spect rum. If t he OPD is not large enough t o allow t he int erferogram signal t o
decay t o a negligible level t here will be unwant ed oscillat ions or sidelobes associat ed wit h t he
feat ures in t he result ing spect rum. To reduce t hese sidelobes t he int erferogram is usually
mult iplied by a funct ion t hat approaches zero at t he maximum OPD. This so-called apodizat ion
reduces t he amplit ude of any sidelobes and also t he noise level at t he expense some reduct ion
in resolut ion.

For rapid calculat ion t he number of point s in t he int erferogram has t o equal a power of t wo. A
st ring of zeroes may be added t o t he measured int erferogram t o achieve t his. More zeroes may
be added in a process called zero filling t o improve t he appearance of t he final spect rum
alt hough t here is no improvement in resolut ion. Alt ernat ively, int erpolat ion aft er t he Fourier
t ransform gives a similar result .

Advantages

There are t hree principal advant ages for an FT spect romet er compared t o a scanning
(dispersive) spect romet er.[1]

1. The mult iplex or Fellget t 's advant age. This arises from t he fact t hat informat ion from all
wavelengt hs is collect ed simult aneously. It result s in a higher signal-t o-noise rat io for a
given scan-t ime for observat ions limit ed by a fixed det ect or noise cont ribut ion (t ypically in
t he t hermal infrared spect ral region where a phot odet ect or is limit ed by generat ion-
recombinat ion noise). For a spect rum wit h m resolut ion element s, t his increase is equal t o
t he square root of m. Alt ernat ively, it allows a short er scan-t ime for a given resolut ion. In
pract ice mult iple scans are oft en averaged, increasing t he signal-t o-noise rat io by t he
square root of t he number of scans.

2. The t hroughput or Jacquinot 's advant age. This result s from t he fact t hat in a dispersive
inst rument , t he monochromat or has ent rance and exit slit s which rest rict t he amount of
light t hat passes t hrough it . The int erferomet er t hroughput is det ermined only by t he
diamet er of t he collimat ed beam coming from t he source. Alt hough no slit s are needed,
FTIR spect romet ers do require an apert ure t o rest rict t he convergence of t he collimat ed
beam in t he int erferomet er. This is because convergent rays are modulat ed at different
frequencies as t he pat h difference is varied. Such an apert ure is called a Jacquinot st op.[1]
For a given resolut ion and wavelengt h t his circular apert ure allows more light t hrough t han a
slit , result ing in a higher signal-t o-noise rat io.

3. The wavelengt h accuracy or Connes' advant age. The wavelengt h scale is calibrat ed by a
laser beam of known wavelengt h t hat passes t hrough t he int erferomet er. This is much more
st able and accurat e t han in dispersive inst rument s where t he scale depends on t he
mechanical movement of diffract ion grat ings. In pract ice, t he accuracy is limit ed by t he
divergence of t he beam in t he int erferomet er which depends on t he resolut ion.
Anot her minor advant age is less sensit ivit y t o st ray light , t hat is radiat ion of one wavelengt h
appearing at anot her wavelengt h in t he spect rum. In dispersive inst rument s, t his is t he result of
imperfect ions in t he diffract ion grat ings and accident al reflect ions. In FT inst rument s t here is no
direct equivalent as t he apparent wavelengt h is det ermined by t he modulat ion frequency in t he
int erferomet er.

Resolution

The int erferogram belongs in t he lengt h dimension. Fourier t ransform (FT) invert s t he dimension,
so t he FT of t he int erferogram belongs in t he reciprocal lengt h dimension([L−1]), t hat is t he
dimension of wavenumber. The spect ral resolut ion in cm−1 is equal t o t he reciprocal of t he
maximal ret ardat ion in cm. Thus a 4 cm−1 resolut ion will be obt ained if t he maximal ret ardat ion is
0.25 cm; t his is t ypical of t he cheaper FTIR inst rument s. Much higher resolut ion can be obt ained
by increasing t he maximal ret ardat ion. This is not easy, as t he moving mirror must t ravel in a near-
perfect st raight line. The use of corner-cube mirrors in place of t he flat mirrors is helpful, as an
out going ray from a corner-cube mirror is parallel t o t he incoming ray, regardless of t he
orient at ion of t he mirror about axes perpendicular t o t he axis of t he light beam. In 1966 Connes
measured t he t emperat ure of t he at mosphere of Venus by recording t he vibrat ion-rot at ion
spect rum of Venusian CO2 at 0.1 cm−1 resolut ion.[6] Michelson himself at t empt ed t o resolve t he
hydrogen Hα emission band in t he spect rum of a hydrogen at om int o it s t wo component s by
using his int erferomet er.[1] p25 A spect romet er wit h 0.001 cm−1 resolut ion is now available
commercially. The t hroughput advant age is import ant for high-resolut ion FTIR, as t he
monochromat or in a dispersive inst rument wit h t he same resolut ion would have very narrow
ent rance and exit slit s.

Motivation

FTIR is a met hod of measuring infrared absorpt ion and emission spect ra. For a discussion of why
people measure infrared absorpt ion and emission spect ra, i.e. why and how subst ances absorb
and emit infrared light , see t he art icle: Infrared spect roscopy.

Components
FTIR setup. The sample is placed right before the detector.

IR sources

FTIR spect romet ers are most ly used for measurement s in t he mid and near IR regions. For t he
mid-IR region, 2−25 μm (5,000–400 cm−1), t he most common source is a silicon carbide (SiC)
element heat ed t o about 1,200 K (930 °C; 1,700 °F) (Globar). The out put is similar t o a blackbody.
Short er wavelengt hs of t he near-IR, 1−2.5 μm (10,000–4,000 cm−1), require a higher t emperat ure
source, t ypically a t ungst en-halogen lamp. The long wavelengt h out put of t hese is limit ed t o
about 5 μm (2,000 cm−1) by t he absorpt ion of t he quart z envelope. For t he far-IR, especially at
wavelengt hs beyond 50 μm (200 cm−1) a mercury discharge lamp gives higher out put t han a
t hermal source.[7]

Detectors

Near-IR spect romet ers commonly use pyroelect ric det ect ors t hat respond t o changes in
t emperat ure as t he int ensit y of IR radiat ion falling on t hem varies. The sensit ive element s in
t hese det ect ors are eit her deut erat ed t riglycine sulfat e (DTGS) or lit hium t ant alat e (LiTaO3).
These det ect ors operat e at ambient t emperat ures and provide adequat e sensit ivit y for most
rout ine applicat ions. To achieve t he best sensit ivit y t he t ime for a scan is t ypically a few
seconds. Cooled phot oelect ric det ect ors are employed for sit uat ions requiring higher sensit ivit y
or fast er response. Liquid nit rogen cooled mercury cadmium t elluride (MCT) det ect ors are t he
most widely used in t he mid-IR. Wit h t hese det ect ors an int erferogram can be measured in as
lit t le as 10 milliseconds. Uncooled indium gallium arsenide phot odiodes or DTGS are t he usual
choices in near-IR syst ems. Very sensit ive liquid-helium-cooled silicon or germanium bolomet ers
are used in t he far-IR where bot h sources and beamsplit t ers are inefficient .

Beam splitter

Simple interferometer with a beam-splitter and compensator plate

An ideal beam-split t er t ransmit s and reflect s 50% of t he incident radiat ion. However, as any
mat erial has a limit ed range of opt ical t ransmit t ance, several beam-split t ers may be used
int erchangeably t o cover a wide spect ral range. For t he mid-IR region t he beamsplit t er is usually
made of KBr wit h a germanium-based coat ing t hat makes it semi-reflect ive. KBr absorbs st rongly
at wavelengt hs beyond 25 μm (400 cm−1) so CsI or KRS-5 are somet imes used t o ext end t he
range t o about 50 μm (200 cm−1). ZnSe is an alt ernat ive where moist ure vapor can be a problem
but is limit ed t o about 20μm (500 cm−1). CaF2 is t he usual mat erial for t he near-IR, being bot h
harder and less sensit ive t o moist ure t han KBr but cannot be used beyond about 8 μm
(1,200 cm−1). In a simple Michelson int erferomet er one beam passes t wice t hrough t he
beamsplit t er but t he ot her passes t hrough only once. To correct for t his an addit ional
compensat or plat e of equal t hickness is incorporat ed. Far-IR beamsplit t ers are most ly based on
polymer films and cover a limit ed wavelengt h range.[8]

Attenuated total reflectance

At t enuat ed t ot al reflect ance (ATR) is one accessory of FTIR spect rophot omet er t o measure
surface propert ies of solid or t hin film samples rat her t han t heir bulk propert ies. Generally, ATR
has a penet rat ion dept h of around 1 or 2 micromet ers depending on sample condit ions.

Fourier transform

The int erferogram in pract ice consist s of a set of int ensit ies measured for discret e values of
ret ardat ion. The difference bet ween successive ret ardat ion values is const ant . Thus, a discret e
Fourier t ransform is needed. The fast Fourier t ransform (FFT) algorit hm is used.

Spectral range

Far-infrared

The first FTIR spect romet ers were developed for far-infrared range. The reason for t his has t o
do wit h t he mechanical t olerance needed for good opt ical performance, which is relat ed t o t he
wavelengt h of t he light being used. For t he relat ively long wavelengt hs of t he far infrared, ~10
μm t olerances are adequat e, whereas for t he rock-salt region t olerances have t o be bet t er t han
1 μm. A t ypical inst rument was t he cube int erferomet er developed at t he NPL[9] and market ed
by Grubb Parsons. It used a st epper mot or t o drive t he moving mirror, recording t he det ect or
response aft er each st ep was complet ed.

Mid-infrared

Wit h t he advent of cheap microcomput ers it became possible t o have a comput er dedicat ed t o
cont rolling t he spect romet er, collect ing t he dat a, doing t he Fourier t ransform and present ing t he
spect rum. This provided t he impet us for t he development of FTIR spect romet ers for t he rock-
salt region. The problems of manufact uring ult ra-high precision opt ical and mechanical
component s had t o be solved. A wide range of inst rument s are now available commercially.
Alt hough inst rument design has become more sophist icat ed, t he basic principles remain t he
same. Nowadays, t he moving mirror of t he int erferomet er moves at a const ant velocit y, and
sampling of t he int erferogram is t riggered by finding zero-crossings in t he fringes of a secondary
int erferomet er lit by a helium–neon laser. In modern FTIR syst ems t he const ant mirror velocit y is
not st rict ly required, as long as t he laser fringes and t he original int erferogram are recorded
simult aneously wit h higher sampling rat e and t hen re-int erpolat ed on a const ant grid, as
pioneered by James W. Brault . This confers very high wavenumber accuracy on t he result ing
infrared spect rum and avoids wavenumber calibrat ion errors.

Near-infrared

The near-infrared region spans t he wavelengt h range bet ween t he rock-salt region and t he st art
of t he visible region at about 750 nm. Overt ones of fundament al vibrat ions can be observed in
t his region. It is used mainly in indust rial applicat ions such as process cont rol and chemical
imaging.

Applications

FTIR can be used in all applicat ions where a dispersive spect romet er was used in t he past (see
ext ernal links). In addit ion, t he improved sensit ivit y and speed have opened up new areas of
applicat ion. Spect ra can be measured in sit uat ions where very lit t le energy reaches t he det ect or
and scan rat es can exceed 50 spect ra a second. Fourier t ransform infrared spect roscopy is used
in geology, chemist ry, mat erials and biology research fields.

Nano and biological materials

FTIR is also used t o invest igat e various nanomat erials and prot eins in hydrophobic membrane
environment s. St udies show t he abilit y of FTIR t o direct ly det ermine t he polarit y at a given sit e
along t he backbone of a t ransmembrane prot ein.[10][11] The bond feat ures involved wit h various
organic and inorganic nanomat erials and t heir quant it at ive analysis can be done wit h t he help of
FTIR.[12][13]

Microscopy and imaging

An infrared microscope allows samples t o be observed and spect ra measured from regions as
small as 5 microns across. Images can be generat ed by combining a microscope wit h linear or 2-
D array det ect ors. The spat ial resolut ion can approach 5 microns wit h t ens of t housands of
pixels. The images cont ain a spect rum for each pixel and can be viewed as maps showing t he
int ensit y at any wavelengt h or combinat ion of wavelengt hs. This allows t he dist ribut ion of
different chemical species wit hin t he sample t o be seen. Typical st udies include analysing t issue
sect ions as an alt ernat ive t o convent ional hist opat hology and examining t he homogeneit y of
pharmaceut ical t ablet s.

Nanoscale and spectroscopy below the diffraction limit

The spat ial resolut ion of FTIR can be furt her improved below t he micromet er scale by
int egrat ing it int o scanning near-field opt ical microscopy plat form. The corresponding t echnique
is called nano-FTIR and allows for performing broadband spect roscopy on mat erials in ult ra-
small quant it ies (single viruses and prot ein complexes) and wit h 10 t o 20 nm spat ial resolut ion.[14]

FTIR as detector in chromatography

The speed of FTIR allows spect ra t o be obt ained from compounds as t hey are separat ed by a
gas chromat ograph. However t his t echnique is lit t le used compared t o GC-MS (gas
chromat ography-mass spect romet ry) which is more sensit ive. The GC-IR met hod is part icularly
useful for ident ifying isomers, which by t heir nat ure have ident ical masses. Liquid chromat ography
fract ions are more difficult because of t he solvent present . One not able except ion is t o measure
chain branching as a funct ion of molecular size in polyet hylene using gel permeat ion
chromat ography, which is possible using chlorinat ed solvent s t hat have no absorpt ion in t he area
in quest ion.

TG-IR (thermogravimetric analysis-infrared spectrometry)

Measuring t he gas evolved as a mat erial is heat ed allows qualit at ive ident ificat ion of t he species
t o complement t he purely quant it at ive informat ion provided by measuring t he weight loss.

Water content determination in plastics and composites

FTIR analysis is used t o det ermine wat er cont ent in fairly t hin plast ic and composit e part s, more
commonly in t he laborat ory set t ing. Such FTIR met hods have long been used for plast ics, and
became ext ended for composit e mat erials in 2018, when t he met hod was int roduced by Krauklis,
Gagani and Echt ermeyer.[15] FTIR met hod uses t he maxima of t he absorbance band at about
5,200 cm−1 which correlat es wit h t he t rue wat er cont ent in t he mat erial.

See also
 Discret e Fourier t ransform – Type of Fourier t ransform in discret e mat hemat ics − for
comput ing periodicit y in evenly spaced dat a

Fourier t ransform – Mat hemat ical t ransform t hat expresses a funct ion of t ime as a funct ion
of frequency

Fourier t ransform spect roscopy

Least -squares spect ral analysis – Frequency-domain analysis met hod − for comput ing
periodicit y in unevenly spaced dat a

References

1. Griffiths, P.; de Hasseth, J. A. (18 May 2007). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=C_c0GVe8MX0C) (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-471-19404-0.

2. "The Infracord double-beam spectrophotometer". Clinical Science. 16 (2). 1957.

3. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20200414155545/https://www.agilent.com/about/newsro

om/presrel/varian/2004/15sep-v04044.htm) . Archived from the original (http://www.agilent.com/abo
ut/newsroom/presrel/varian/2004/15sep-v04044.htm) on 2020-04-14. Retrieved 2013-03-05.

4. "Agilent Technologies to Acquire Varian, Inc. for $1.5 Billion" (http://www.agilent.co.in/about/newsroom/

presrel/2009/27jul-gp09016.html) . Agilent. July 27, 2009.

5. Brault, James W. (1996). "New Approach to high-precision Fourier transform spectrometer design".
Applied Optics. 35 (16): 2891–2896. Bibcode:1996ApOpt..35.2891B (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/ab
s/1996ApOpt..35.2891B) . doi:10.1364/AO.35.002891 (https://doi.org/10.1364%2FAO.35.002891) .
PMID 21085438 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21085438) .

6. Connes, J.; Connes, P. (1966). "Near-Infrared Planetary Spectra by Fourier Spectroscopy. I. Instruments
and Results". Journal of the Optical Society of America. 56 (7): 896–910. doi:10.1364/JOSA.56.000896
(https://doi.org/10.1364%2FJOSA.56.000896) .

7. Smith, D.R.; Morgan, R.L.; Loewenstein, E.V. (1968). "Comparison of the Radiance of Far-Infrared
Sources". J. Opt. Soc. Am. 58 (3): 433–434. doi:10.1364/JOSA.58.000433 (https://doi.org/10.1364%2F
JOSA.58.000433) .

8. Griffiths, P.R.; Holmes, C (2002). Handbook of Vibrational Spectroscopy, Vol 1. Chichester: John Wiley
and Sons.

9. Chamberain, J.; Gibbs, J.E.; Gebbie, H.E. (1969). "The determination of refractive index spectra by
fourier spectrometry". Infrared Physics. 9 (4): 189–209. Bibcode:1969InfPh...9..185C (https://ui.adsab
s.harvard.edu/abs/1969InfPh...9..185C) . doi:10.1016/0020-0891(69)90023-2 (https://doi.org/10.101
6%2F0020-0891%2869%2990023-2) .
10. Manor, Joshua; Feldblum, Esther S.; Arkin, Isaiah T. (2012). "Environment Polarity in Proteins Mapped
Noninvasively by FTIR Spectroscopy" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341589) . The
Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 3 (7): 939–944. doi:10.1021/jz300150v (https://doi.org/10.102
1%2Fjz300150v) . PMC 3341589 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341589) .
PMID 22563521 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22563521) .

11. Brielle, Esther S.; Arkin, Isaiah T. (2018). "Site-Specific Hydrogen Exchange in a Membrane Environment
Analyzed by Infrared Spectroscopy". The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 9 (14): 4059–4065.
doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01675 (https://doi.org/10.1021%2Facs.jpclett.8b01675) . PMID 29957958
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29957958) . S2CID 49621115 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/Cor
pusID:49621115) .

12. "Structural, functional and magnetic ordering modifications in graphene oxide and graphite by 100 MeV
gold ion irradiation". Vacuum. 182: 109700. 2020-12-01. doi:10.1016/j.vacuum.2020.109700

13. Deepty, M., Ch Srinivas, E. Ranjith Kumar, N. Krisha Mohan, C. L. Prajapat, TV Chandrasekhar Rao, Sher
Singh Meena, Amit Kumar Verma, and D. L. Sastry. "XRD, EDX, FTIR and ESR spectroscopic studies of
co-precipitated Mn–substituted Zn–ferrite nanoparticles." Ceramics International 45, no. 6 (2019):
8037-8044.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2019.01.029

14. Amenabar, Iban; Poly, Simon; Nuansing, Wiwat; Hubrich, Elmar H.; Govyadinov, Alexander A.; Huth,
Florian; Krutokhvostov, Roman; Zhang, Lianbing; Knez, Mato (2013-12-04). "Structural analysis and
mapping of individual protein complexes by infrared nanospectroscopy" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC3863900) . Nature Communications. 4: 2890. Bibcode:2013NatCo...4.2890A (http
s://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013NatCo...4.2890A) . doi:10.1038/ncomms3890 (https://doi.org/10.
1038%2Fncomms3890) . ISSN 2041-1723 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2041-1723) .
PMC 3863900 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863900) . PMID 24301518 (https://p
ubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24301518) .

15. Krauklis, A. E.; Gagani, A. I.; Echtermeyer, A. T. (2018). "Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Method for
Monitoring Water Content in Epoxy Resins and Fiber-Reinforced Composites" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pmc/articles/PMC5951470) . Materials. 11 (4): 586–599. Bibcode:2018Mate...11..586. (https://u
i.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018Mate...11..586.) . doi:10.3390/ma11040586 (https://doi.org/10.339
0%2Fma11040586) . PMC 5951470 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5951470) .
PMID 29641451 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29641451) .

External links

Infracord spect romet er (ht t ps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art icles/PMC441765/pdf/jcinvest

00449-0191.pdf) phot ograph

The Grubb-Parsons-NPL cube int erferomet er Spect roscopy, part 2 by Dudley Williams, page
81 (ht t ps://books.google.com/books?id=XTolQEkzSR0C&pg=PA81)
 infrared mat erials (ht t ps://web.archive.org/web/20101114040356/ht t p://infrared.als.lbl.gov/c
ont ent /web-links/58-irwindows) Propert ies of many salt cryst als and useful links.

Universit y FTIR lab example (ht t p://www.brist ol.ac.uk/eart hsciences/research/pet rology/facili

t ies/ft ir-lab/) from Universit y of Brist ol

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