Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering:
Basics, Theoretical Background,
and Applications
Alireza Mazaheri Tehrani, Faezeh Mohaghegh, and Arnulf Materny
Abstract Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) as a highly efficient
nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy technique has found wide applications in physics,
chemistry, and biology. Measurement of temperature and species concentration in
combustion exhaust, fundamental studies of dynamics of energy transfer between
different vibrational modes of sample molecules and high precision rapid imaging of
biological species in living cells are just some of the applications. This chapter aims
to briefly introduce the technique, starting with basics and experimental conditions,
followed by some examples of recent applications.
Keywords Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering · Nonlinear optics · Vibrational
spectroscopy · Nonlinear four-wave mixing · Surface-enhanced CARS
1 Introduction
Vibrational spectroscopy has for decades successfully provided a powerful, nondestructive and versatile tool for studying molecular structures. The vibrational energies are unique features of the molecular samples and can be considered to be “molecular fingerprints”. Their detection allows for a rapid characterization yielding detailed
structural information about the molecular species [1, 2]. Vibrational energies typically can be found in a wavenumber range from a few cm
−1 to a few thousands
of cm
−1 ; they are far smaller than the electronic energies. The vibrational lines are
relatively narrow and the spectrum therefore offers more detailed information about
structure and also interactions of the molecules with their surrounding compared to
absorption or emission spectra, which occur due to electronic transitions with typically broad spectral features. The lines assigned to vibrational modes reflect with
high spectral resolution intra- and intermolecular properties, which is used in many
fields of science, like physics, chemistry, biology, or material science.
A. Mazaheri Tehrani · F. Mohaghegh · A. Materny (B)
Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Germany
e-mail: A.Materny@Jacobs-University.de
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
D. K. Singh et al. (eds.), Modern Techniques of Spectroscopy, Progress in Optical Science
and Photonics 13, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6084-6_9
235
Basics, Theoretical Background,
and Applications
Alireza Mazaheri Tehrani, Faezeh Mohaghegh, and Arnulf Materny
Abstract Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) as a highly efficient
nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy technique has found wide applications in physics,
chemistry, and biology. Measurement of temperature and species concentration in
combustion exhaust, fundamental studies of dynamics of energy transfer between
different vibrational modes of sample molecules and high precision rapid imaging of
biological species in living cells are just some of the applications. This chapter aims
to briefly introduce the technique, starting with basics and experimental conditions,
followed by some examples of recent applications.
Keywords Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering · Nonlinear optics · Vibrational
spectroscopy · Nonlinear four-wave mixing · Surface-enhanced CARS
1 Introduction
Vibrational spectroscopy has for decades successfully provided a powerful, nondestructive and versatile tool for studying molecular structures. The vibrational energies are unique features of the molecular samples and can be considered to be “molecular fingerprints”. Their detection allows for a rapid characterization yielding detailed
structural information about the molecular species [1, 2]. Vibrational energies typically can be found in a wavenumber range from a few cm
−1 to a few thousands
of cm
−1 ; they are far smaller than the electronic energies. The vibrational lines are
relatively narrow and the spectrum therefore offers more detailed information about
structure and also interactions of the molecules with their surrounding compared to
absorption or emission spectra, which occur due to electronic transitions with typically broad spectral features. The lines assigned to vibrational modes reflect with
high spectral resolution intra- and intermolecular properties, which is used in many
fields of science, like physics, chemistry, biology, or material science.
A. Mazaheri Tehrani · F. Mohaghegh · A. Materny (B)
Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Germany
e-mail: A.Materny@Jacobs-University.de
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
D. K. Singh et al. (eds.), Modern Techniques of Spectroscopy, Progress in Optical Science
and Photonics 13, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6084-6_9
235