Molecular Spectroscopy

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George Shields is a professor of chemistry at Furman University and the founder and director of the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational ChemistRY (MERCURY). | Photo Credit: George Shields.
Inside the Laboratory: How Computational Approaches Can Improve Understanding of Molecular Behavior

August 29th 2025

In Part 2 of this “Inside the Laboratory,” feature on George Shields, a professor of chemistry at Furman University and the founder and director of the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational ChemistRY (MERCURY), Consortium, we discuss his research into computational approaches to improve our understanding of molecular behavior in both biochemistry and atmospheric chemistry and his work applying replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) for breast cancer drug design.

E. Bright Wilson, Jr.
Lucidity and Light: The Spectroscopic Legacy of E. Bright Wilson, Jr.

August 18th 2025

Modern lithium ion battery technology concept. Metal Li-Ion battery cells with electric vehicle battery pack on black background. 3d illustration. | Image Credit: © malp - stock.adobe.com
Carbon Structure and Raman Spectroscopy

August 17th 2025

A doctor's or researcher's hand holding a Petri dish with a culture of bacteria on which an antibiotic disc test is performed. Antimicrobial resistance concept. | Image Credit: © TopMicrobialStock - stock.adobe.com
New Spectroscopic Approach Explores How Antibiotics Alter E. coli at the Molecular Level

August 12th 2025

Commercial palm oil cultivation. | Image Credit: © chadamas - stock.adobe.com
Monitoring Palm Oil Using Raman Spectroscopy and Deep Learning

August 1st 2025

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Recording the Raman Spectrum of a Single Molecule

Recording the Raman Spectrum of a Single Molecule

September 2nd 2021

Analytical chemists are continually striving to advance techniques to make it possible to observe and measure matter and processes at smaller and smaller scales. Professor Vartkess Ara Apkarian and his team at the University of California, Irvine have made a significant breakthrough in this quest: They have recorded the Raman spectrum of a single azobenzene thiol molecule. The approach, which breaks common tenets about surface-enhanced Raman scattering/spectroscopy (SERS) and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), involved imaging an isolated azobenzene thiol molecule on an atomically flat gold surface, then picking it up and recording its Raman spectrum using an electrochemically etched silver tip, in an ultrahigh vacuum cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope. For the resulting paper detailing the effort [1], Apkarian and his associates are the 2021 recipients of the William F. Meggers Award, given annually by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy to the authors of the outstanding paper appearing in the journal Applied Spectroscopy. We spoke to Apkarian about this research, and what being awarded this honor means to him and his team. This interview is part of an ongoing series with the winners of awards that are presented at the annual SciX conference. The award will be presented to Apkarian at this fall’s event, which will be held in person in Providence, Rhode Island, September 28–October 1.