Ocean Optics offers laser-induced breakdown spectrometer systems (LIBS) that can be used to identify light to heavy metals in a variety of sample types and geometries in environmental analysis applications. LIBS are versatile, real-time, high-resolution analyzers for qualitative analysis, in less than one second, of every element in solids,…

Presents information relevant to everyday life so as to stimulate student interest in the properties of the two basic types of liquid crystals: thermotropic and lyotropic. Describes the applications of liquid crystals to electronics, biomedicine, and polymer science and appraises the future of liquid crystal research. (JM)

Describes a method for demonstrating absorption spectra of intensely colored solutions using a mounted grating and a specially designed cell. Allows a student to compare the spectrum of a white light source directly with the same light modified by an absorbing spectrum. Uses acrylic tubing to make the cell. (MVL)

Reviews the basis for the technique and its experimental requirements. Describes a few examples of the analytical problems to which surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been and can be applied. Provides a perspective on the current limitations and frontiers in developing SERS as an analytical technique. (MVL)