Optical Spectrocopy


George R. Rossman
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
 California Institute of Technolgy, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Abstract

Optical spectra are concerned with the quantitative measurement of the absorption, reflection and emission of light in the near-ultraviolet (~250 nm) through the mid-infrared (~3000 nm) portions of the spectrum. The reflection spectroscopy of minerals has been motivated largely by interest in remote sensing.  Studies of metal ion site occupancy, oxidation states and concentrations have generally been done with ab­sorption spectroscopy.  This chapter will concentrate on single crystal absorption spectroscopy.


Reviews of Mineralogy 18, 207-254