From raw data to processed spectra: A step-by-step guide

TL;DR

This paper provides a detailed, step-by-step guide for converting optical spectra from wavelength to frequency, enhancing the accuracy of material characterization and aiding educational purposes.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive methodology for spectral data conversion and analysis, improving clarity and correctness in spectroscopic data interpretation.

Findings

Clarifies factors affecting spectral rescaling

Provides practical guidelines for data conversion

Enhances understanding of spectroscopic data analysis

Abstract

Optical spectroscopy is an important and widely used technique, for instance, to characterize new materials and to identify unknown compounds. Spectra are typically reported as a function of the wavelength of light, yet the information extracted from such spectra can be misleading. In contrast, spectra represented as a function of the frequency (or photon energy) allow for a more direct extraction of the intrinsic quantum-mechanical properties of the materials under investigation. Here we discuss this conversion for absorption, fluorescence and fluorescence excitation spectra. We show step-by-step the different factors that lead to a rescaling of the measured absorption and fluorescence signals. This paper will assist instructors who aim at developing an (under-)graduate lab to introduce into the methodology and terminology of spectroscopic experiments and to provide clear, step-by-step guidelines for data analysis and representation.