2. Experimental Setup

Since the days when C.V. Raman and coworkers discovered inelastic light scattering using Calcutta sunlight as the source in the 1920s (Raman, Indian J Phys 2:387–398, 1928), many improvements have been done on Raman spectroscopy apparatus in the past century. Raman scattering setup has evolved into very diverse forms, from portable or even handheld Raman spectrometers widely used by forensic scientists and minefield workers to gigantic state-of-the-art triple-stage grating spectrometers used in research labs. The data collection efficiency has also improved many orders of magnitude, alongside with better spectral resolution and polarization optics. This is due to improvements on almost every single element: laser light source, polarization optics, aberration corrected lens, holographic blazed gratings, off-axis parabolic mirrors, high precision slits, back illuminated CCD detectors, and many other factors (Hayes and Loudon, Scattering of light by crystals. Courier Corporation, Chelmsford, 2012; Palmer, Loewen, Diffraction grating handbook. Newport Corporation, New York, 2005). Given the diversity and breadth of this topic, it is impossible to have a complete account of all involved instrumentations. In this chapter, I will introduce the basic elements common to most low temperature polarization resolved Raman spectroscopic research labs, but focus will be given to the setups we employ here at Rutgers. Then I will discuss the data acquisition, error sources, and data analysis techniques we used in this monograph.