PHYSICAL
CHEMISTRY DIVISION
COMMISSION ON MOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND SPECTROSCOPY*
Specification of Components, Methods
and Parameters in Fourier Transform Spectroscopy by Michelson and Related
Interferometers
(Technical Report)
Introduction
The purpose of this project is to provide a short list
of components, methods and parameters that should be reported in papers
which focus on spectra recorded on Fourier transform spectrometers.
The intention is to distribute the list to journal editors with the
request that they make it available to authors and referees of such
papers, to facilitate their task of ensuring that all relevant information
is reported.
It should be noted that most scientists agree that, in
addition to adequate specification of the components, methods and parameters
used, such papers should include at least one figure that shows a typical
spectrum obtained during the work, or a typical portion of a such a
spectrum.
Two requirements emerged during the course of the work.
First, it became clear that three separate lists are needed.
One list is for spectroscopy at modest resolution, which here means
roughly 0.25 cm-1 to 8 cm-1
resolution, and one list is for spectroscopy at high resolution,
which here means a resolution of 0.01 cm-1 or better. The uncovered resolution region, 0.01
to 0.25 cm-1 is less commonly used, and the list that is most
appropriate to the particular instrument and work should be used. The
third list is for Raman spectroscopy at modest resolution.
Second, it is desired that the lists should be sufficiently
extensive to be scientifically helpful but sufficiently short that authors
will actually use them. In principle the instrument manuals supplied
by the manufacturer are available and, thus, the description of the
instrument, with its default components, methods and parameters, is
available for each instrument. In practice this information is rarely
in the open literature and usually is not available to people who do
not have the particular instrument. Equally, it is rarely available
five or ten years after the instrument is introduced. There are, however,
enough similarities between different instruments to allow the length
of the lists for modest resolution to be reduced slightly by defining
a set of assumptions or default components, methods and parameters that
apply to the majority of cases at the present time.
Accordingly three lists are presented below. Each list
for modest resolution is preceded by the set of assumptions on which
it is based. The assumed components, methods and parameters need only
be specified when they deviate from those assumption, if the authors
who use these lists cite this paper.
The remainder of the paper contains:
list A for work at modest resolution,
list B for high resolution studies, and
list C for Raman spectroscopy.
Lists A and C are accompanied by brief explanatory notes
about some of the entries.
The following people have provided valuable guidance in
the preparation of these lists: Brenda P. Winnewisser, John W. C. Johns,
Peter R. Griffiths, Peter Klaeboe, Jeanette Grasselli Brown, Ad Oskam,
John H. van der Maas, Arlan W. Mantz, Ole Faurskov Nielsen, Guy Guelachvili,
Robert W. McKellar and Kirk H. Michaelian.
Back to Index
