A Raman spectrometer works by directing a laser beam at a sample and detecting the scattered light. When the laser light interacts with the sample, most of it is elastically scattered (Rayleigh scattering). However, a small portion is inelastically scattered, resulting in a shift in energy that corresponds to the vibrational modes of the molecules in the sample. This shifted light is collected, dispersed by a monochromator, and detected by a detector to produce a Raman spectrum.
