Application of vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy to studies of chemical reactions on water surface and actinide interface chemistry

Kusaka, Ryoji  

Vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy is an optical second-order nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy using ultrashort pulse lasers. Because VSFG spectroscopy is a unique and powerful tool for studying molecular structures of interfaces, it has been widely used in many research fields. However, there still undoubtedly remains some VSFG research areas that have not studied well, partly because VSFG measurements are not so easily performed in comparison with relatively general spectroscopy methods. This review presented recent applications of VSFG spectroscopy to two research topics: (1) chemical reactions on water surfaces, and (2) actinide chemistry.