change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules. The phenomenon is named for Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (Raman, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata), who discovered it in 1928. When a beam of light traverses a dust-free, transparent sample of a chemical compound, a small fraction of the light emerges in directions other than that of the incident (incoming) beam. Most of this scattered light is of unchanged wavelength. A small part, however, has wavelengths different from that of the incident light; its presence is a result of the Raman effect.

Raman scattering is perhaps most easily understandable if the incident light is considered as consisting of particles, or photons (with energy proportional to frequency), that strike the molecules of the sample. Most of the encounters are elastic, and the photons are scattered with unchanged energy and frequency. On some occasions, however, the molecule takes up energy from or gives up energy to the photons, which are thereby scattered with diminished or increased energy, hence with lower or higher frequency. The frequency shifts are thus measures of the amounts of energy involved in the transition between initial and final states of the scattering molecule.

The Raman effect is feeble; for a liquid compound the intensity of the affected light may be only 1/100,000 of that incident beam. The pattern of the Raman lines is characteristic of the particular molecular species, and its intensity is proportional to the number of scattering molecules in the path of the light. Thus, Raman spectra are used in qualitative and quantitative analysis.

The energies corresponding to the Raman frequency shifts are found to be the energies associated with transitions between different rotational and vibrational states of the scattering molecule. Pure rotational shifts are small and difficult to observe, except for those of simple gaseous molecules. In liquids, rotational motions are hindered, and discrete rotational Raman lines are not found. Most Raman work is concerned with vibrational transitions, which give larger shifts observable for gases, liquids, and solids. Gases have low molecular concentration at ordinary pressures and therefore produce very faint Raman effects; thus liquids and solids are more frequently studied.