Ellipsometric Raman Spectroscopy

We introduce a new experimental technique referred to as ellipsometric Raman spectroscopy (ERS) to quantify the Raman optical activity (ROA) where ellipsometry is combined with Raman spectroscopy. The Stokes parameters were determined for Raman scattered light using Fourier decomposition in measurements with achromatic optical components in a nine-point method. We tested the methodology with ultrapure water, a well-known chiral alcohol, and a chiral polymer, and we show that ERS allows for studying not only the vicinities of chiral carbons but also molecular species coupled to form chiral structures. Furthermore, in ERS, isotropic and anisotropic scattering contribute equally, thus making it possible to analyze the low-wavenumber region in samples such as the chiral polymer studied here, for which the ROA signal probably arises mainly from isotropic scattering.