During the last decades, several books have been devoted to the application of spectroscopic methods in mineralogy. Several short courses and meetings have addressed particular aspects of spectroscopy, such as the analysis of hydrous components in minerals and Earth materials. In these books, complete treatment of the infrared theory and practical aspects of instrumentation and methods, along with an exhaustive list of references, can be found. The present chapter is intended to cover those aspects of infrared spectroscopy that have been developed in the past decade and are not included in earlier reviews such as Volume 18 of Reviews in Mineralogy. These new topics involve primarily: (1) the use of synchrotron radiation (SR), which, although not a routine method, is now rather extensively applied in infrared studies, in particular those requiring ultimate spatial and time resolution and the analysis of extremely small samples (a few tens of micrometers); (2) the development of imaging techniques also for foreseen time resolved studies of geo-mineralogical processes and environmental studies.

36 pages, 24 figures - Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry - Vol. 78 (2013) in press