

However, it's important to note that metals are generally opaque and exhibit high losses for transmitted light, limiting their use to reflective or surface-based applications. In recent years, the study of metal nanostructures has opened up the field of plasmonics, enabling extraordinary optical phenomena like sub-wavelength focusing and surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Metals are often used as thin-film coatings on mirrors, beam splitters, and various optical components to enhance reflectivity, filter wavelengths, or provide protective layers. For example, aluminum is prized for its cost-effectiveness and high reflectivity in the UV and visible ranges, while gold is favored for its stability and performance in the infrared spectrum. Commonly used metals in optical applications include aluminum, silver, and gold, each with its distinct advantages and challenges. Metals are integral to a wide array of optical technologies, offering unique properties like high reflectivity, excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, and robustness under various environmental conditions. Overall, aluminium remains a versatile and widely used material in the field of optics, valued for its blend of performance and affordability.

It's worth noting that the optical properties of aluminium, such as its refractive index, can differ based on its physical state-whether in bulk, thin film, or nanoparticle form. In photonics, aluminium nanostructures are also being investigated for their plasmonic properties. To counteract this, aluminium coatings are frequently protected by a thin layer of dielectric material. However, aluminium surfaces are generally more prone to oxidation than other reflective metals like gold or silver. While it offers high reflectivity, it is also cost-effective, making it a popular choice across both consumer and industrial sectors. Known for its excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, aluminium is often utilized as a mirror coating in optical systems such as telescopes and microscopes, particularly for operations within the ultraviolet and visible spectral ranges. Figure 10.2.Aluminium (Al) is a lightweight and highly reflective metal that sees extensive use in a variety of optical applications. A linear molecule, such as CO 2, has 3 N – 5 vibrational modes because it can rotate around only two axes. This leaves 15 – 3 – 3 = 9 vibrational modes. In addition, the molecule can rotate about its x, y, and z axes, accounting for three additional forms of motion. Because the entire molecule can move in the x, y, and z directions, three of methane’s 15 different motions are translational. A molecule can move in three ways: it can move from one place to another, which we call translational motion it can rotate around an axis, which we call rotational motion and its bonds can stretch and bend, which we call vibrational motion. Each of methane’s five atoms can move in one of three directions ( x, y, and z) for a total of \(5 \times 3 = 15\) different ways in which the molecule’s atoms can move. Why does a non-linear molecule have 3 N – 6 vibrational modes? Consider a molecule of methane, CH 4. The IR spectrum for ethanol is shown in Figure 10.2.2 Even a relatively simple molecule, such as ethanol (C 2H 6O), for example, has \(3 \times 9 - 6\), or 21 possible normal modes of vibration, although not all of these vibrational modes give rise to an absorption. Not surprisingly, infrared spectra often show a considerable number of absorption bands. The number of possible normal vibrational modes for a linear molecule is 3 N – 5, and for a non-linear molecule is 3 N – 6, where N is the number of atoms in the molecule. Weaker absorption lines, called overtones, result from transitions in which \(\Delta \nu\) is ☒ or ☓. Transitions in which \(\Delta \nu = \pm 1\) give rise to the fundamental absorption lines. A transition from the ground vibrational state to the first vibrational excited state (\(\nu = 1\)) requires absorption of a photon with an energy of \(h \nu_0\). For example, a carbon-carbon single bond (C–C) absorbs infrared radiation at a lower energy than a carbon-carbon double bond (C=C) because a single bond is weaker than a double bond.Īt room temperature most molecules are in their ground vibrational state (\(\nu = 0\)). The value of \(\nu_0\), which is determined by the bond’s strength and by the mass at each end of the bond, is a characteristic property of a bond.

, and \(\nu_0\) is the bond’s fundamental vibrational frequency. Where \(\nu\) is the vibrational quantum number, which has values of 0, 1, 2.
