Raman Scattering at Resonant or Near-Resonant Conditions: A Generalized Short-Time Approximation

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of resonant Raman scattering in the course of the frequency detuning. The dephasing in the time domain makes the scattering fast when the photon energy is tuned from the absorption resonance. This makes frequency detuning to act as a camera shutter with a regulated scattering duration and provides a practical tool of controlling the scattering time in ordinary stationary measurements. The theory is applied to resonant Raman spectra of a couple of few-mode model systems and to trans-1,3,5-hexatriene and guanine-cytosine (G-C) Watson-Crick base pairs (DNA) molecules. Besides some particular physical effects, the regime of fast scattering leads to a simplification of the spectrum as well as to the scattering theory itself. Strong overtones appear in the Raman spectra when the photon frequency is tuned in the resonant region, while in the mode of fast scattering, the overtones are gradually quenched when the photon frequency is tuned more than one vibrational quantum below the first absorption resonance. The detuning from the resonant region thus leads to a strong purification of the Raman spectrum from the contamination by higher overtones and soft modes and purifies the spectrum also in terms of avoidance of dissociation and interfering fluorescence decay of the resonant state. This makes frequency detuning a very useful practical tool in the analysis of the resonant Raman spectra of complex systems and considerably improves the prospects for using the Raman effect for detection of foreign substances at ultra-low concentrations.