Spectroscopic imaging: a spatial Odyssey

Abstract

Analytical methods were developed or refined to link the composition and structure of man-made and natural materials down to the nanoscale dimensions to their functional behaviour at the macroscopic scale. Most of the techniques now available are based the interaction of the sample with electromagnetic radiation or particles. In these techniques, the ability for observation and analysis expanded over the last 50 years from rather straightforward measurements in the narrow wavelength range in, or near to, the visible region, to large portions of the electromagnetic spectrum and complex higher-order interactions in multi-spectral and hyper-spectral imaging methods. With imaging analysis and other analytical methodologies that produce massive amounts of data, analytical chemistry is increasingly transformed into a discovery-driven, shotgun methodology, instead of a hypothesis-driven, targeted methodology. In such conditions, standard metrological concepts (uncertainty, validation, and/or traceability to fundamental standards…) lose their central guiding role.