What are Absorption, Excitation and Emission Spectra?
In
this blog post, the differences between molecular absorption, excitation and
emission spectra are explained.
Absorption
Spectra
Figure 1: Absorption spectrum of anthracene in cyclohexane measured using the FS5 Spectrofluorometer. Experimental parameters: Δλ = 1 nm.
The absorbance is linearly proportional to the molar concentration of the sample; which enables the concentration of the sample to be calculated from the absorption spectrum using the Beer-Lambert Law.
Figure 2: Schematic of the measurement of absorption spectra in a spectrophotometer.
Excitation
Spectra
Figure 3: Fluorescence excitation spectrum of anthracene in cyclohexane measured using the FS5 Spectrofluorometer. Experimental parameters: λem = 420 nm, Δλem = 1 nm, Δλex = 1 nm.
Figure 4: Schematic of the measurement of excitation spectra in a spectrofluorometer.
Emission Spectra
Figure 5: Fluorescence emission spectrum of anthracene in cyclohexane measured using the FS5 Spectrofluorometer. Experimental parameters: λex = 340 nm, Δλex = 1nm, Δλem= 1 nm
Figure 6: Schematic of the measurement of emission spectra in a spectrofluorometer.