FUNDAMENTALS OF SPECTROSCOPY

The course is among the core activities of Master’s Degree Programme in Science and Technology of Bio and Nanomaterials, having the aim of providing graduates with a solid and advanced education in chemistry and physics, and the ability to investigate the properties of materials, and the knowledge of how the modern techniques of synthesis and preparation of bio- and nanomaterials influence their functional behaviour
Within this framework, the course will provide a rigorous treatment of the spectroscopic phenomenon, covering the theoretical grounds as well as the corresponding formalism. The course will introduce also some relevant techniques employed for the spectroscopic characterisation, and for the studies of inorganic, organic and composite systems, as well as of functionalized surfaces.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The course provides a solid knowledge of both optical and magnetic spectroscopies, and on how to determine the properties of molecules, materials and their surfaces by using different spectroscopic techniques. At the end the student should have a solid knowledge and deep understanding of the correct spectroscopic formalism to be used, and of the theoretical concepts of both advanced optical and magnetic spectroscopies.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end the student should be able to apply the correct formalism for analysing the different spectroscopic phenomena (and their corresponding data in their spectral range). In details, the students:
- will be able to apply physical and quantum-chemical concepts to describe the spectroscopic experiment, to analyse the corresponding outcome, and to optimize the experimental parameters.
- will be able to describe the corresponding spectroscopic techniques and interdisciplinary applications (using all the theoretical concepts treated during the course).
MAKING JUDGEMENTS
At the end the student should be able also to judge and compare the performances, the issues and the applicability of the different spectroscopic techniques in view of the problems to be solved and/or the researches to be carried out.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
At the end the student should be able to communicate the knowledge learned, and to describe the results obtained from the application of a spectroscopic technique, with appropriate language, to specialists and non-specialists interlocutors.

Concerning the students enrolled at the Master's Degree Programme in Science and Technology of Bio and Nanomaterials (CM14), please remember that they must pass the exam of the course "Mathematical Methods for Physics" before this exam (i.e., the one of "Fundamentals of Spectroscopy"); besides, they may find the basic concepts on quantum-chemistry, physics, organic, general and inorganic chemistry required as pre-requisites of this course in the preparatory courses "Principles of Physical Chemistry", “Fundamentals of Physics”, “Organic Chemistry” and “Principles of General and Inorganic Chemistry”.
Concerning the students enrolled in the Master's Degree Programme in Sustainable Chemistry and Technologies, please remember that they should know (and be able to apply) the basic concepts of quantum chemistry (to have attained the educational objectives of the corresponding course, possibly but not necessarily having passed the corresponding exam).

BASIC CONCEPTS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS
Hilbertian vector space, Hermitian operators and their properties. Schrödinger wave equation: time-dependent and time-independent equation. Processes of induced absorption, induced and spontaneous emission, and their corresponding Einstein transition-probability coefficients. Transition moment. Electric and magnetic interactions. Selection rules. Classification of spectroscopies. The harmonic oscillator, its eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Spectroscopy of the harmonic oscillator. Extension to polyatomic system: normal modes of vibration.
INFRARED (IR) SPECTROSCOPY AND SOME EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES
Polyatomic molecules: selection rules. Examples of infrared spectra. Discussion of some relevant modern experimental techniques: Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) IR spectroscopy, Surface Enhanced InfraRed Absorption Spectroscopy (SEIRAS), Reflection-Absorption IR Spectroscopy (RAIRS). Examples of applications and exercises.
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY: basic concepts and experimental apparatus; SERS and TERS techniques. Examples of applications and exercises.
NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) SPECTROSCOPY
Review of spin angular momentum operators and their properties. Spin precession and Larmor frequency. Bloch equations and their solutions in laboratory (fixed) axes and rotating axes. Relaxation processes: longitudinal (spin-lattice) and transversal (spin-spin) processes. Hard and Soft pulses: their effects and uses. Basic concepts on monodimensional NMR (on 1H and 13C).
Bi-dimensional (2D-) NMR. Homo-nuclear and hetero-nuclear 2D-NMR spectroscopy. Description of some 2D-NMR experiments: COSY, HSQC/HMQC, HMBC, DEPT, PGSE, DOSY. Examples of applications and exercises.

Mainly lecture notes and the slides (made by the teacher) available in the Moodle space.
For the quantum mechanics part the textbook mainly used in the course is
D. J. Griffiths, “Introduction to Quantum Mechanics”, Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2016.
For the optical spectroscopies, the textbook mainly used in the course is
J. M. Hollas, “Modern Spectroscopy”, 4th edition, Wiley, 2003.
For the magnetic spectroscopies, the textbook mainly used in the course is
N. E. Jacobsen “NMR SPECTROSCOPY EXPLAINED: Simplified Theory, Applications and Examples for Organic Chemistry and Structural Biology”, John Wiley & Sons, 2007.

Oral examination (about 30’).
In particular, the oral exam consists in a series of open questions, in which the theoretical aspects of the spectroscopic techniques and their application to solve problems will be discussed, followed by a short presentation (by slides in PPT or PDF format, 8 minutes max), describing an application of spectroscopy for solving a problem and/or a research to be carried out.
During the open questions, the student will have to expose the various topics in a formally and scientifically correct language, demonstrating at the same time that he/she understood the link between the different theoretical aspects treated, and their correlation with the spectroscopic techniques, and that he/she is able to judge and compare the performances, the issues and the applicability of the different spectroscopic techniques in view of the problem to be solved and/or the researches to be carried out.
By means of the presentation, describing an application of spectroscopy for solving problem and/or a research to be carried out, the student will demonstrate that he/she is able to communicate the knowledge learned, and to describe the results obtained from the application of a spectroscopic technique, with appropriate language.
For the students enrolled at Master's Degree Programme in Science and Technology of Bio and Nanomaterials, at least 70% of lecture attendance is required to pass the course.

Classroom lectures (both traditional whiteboard and PPT or PDF slides will be used) coupled to the use of some dedicated software packages, and problems/exercises; besides, scientific articles, will be used during the lectures.
Classroom lectures will be interactive and will include also several exercises and problems which will be solved by the students also using the dedicated software packages previously discussed; during these activities the students will be followed and guided by the teacher to the understanding and correct interpretation of the assigned exercises and problems. The students will have to illustrate and discuss their solutions before the classmates and the teacher; questions from the teacher and the classmates will follow these presentations to verify that the students are able to link them with the general context of the course.
After each lecture, the slides employed (and the corresponding supplementary material together with examples about how to describe the spectroscopic data) will be downloadable from the MOODLE web pages.
For the students enrolled at Master's Degree Programme in Science and Technology of Bio and Nanomaterials, at least 70% of lecture attendance is required to pass the course.

English

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion

Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments:
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). In the case of disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

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